The Hate Debate

I am sick of it – this vaccination debate. My convictions not to vaccinate have been firm for six years now and I was comfortable living a low-profile life and letting other more notable activists carry the torch; and then I started seeing misleading t.v. interviews, news stories, and backlash against parents and unvaccinated children. I saw reputable medical professionals get crucified and reputations destroyed for questioning the mainstream norm. I saw laws passed in other states removing freedoms that rightfully belong to parents and individuals as a whole. I saw fear, blame, finger-pointing, lies, and flat-out hate being propagated and encouraged by people, physicians, and popular media avenues towards parents who don’t vaccinate, and their children.

This isn’t a vaccination debate, it’s a hate debate, so let’s call it what it is. And when it got personal, I got involved. Most importantly, I felt the need to clear a few things up:

I am not an “anti-vaxxer” or a “disinformation activist.”
I am a parent. Some people believe that parents can’t make an educated decision on this issue, that you should check all of your questions and reservations about vaccinating at the door and trust your physician, that is unless your physician also questions vaccines (or supports a delayed schedule), then he’s a quack.

Despite what you have been told, it takes no credentials, no formal education, and no “M.D” behind your name to take an educated stance on this issue – it only takes a brain…and everybody’s got one. Of course, if you decide not to vaccinate you’ll be harassed and told to pull your child out of public school. Funny how we do have the credentials to educate our children but don’t have the credentials to make an informed decision about vaccines. So put your credentials away, you didn’t need them to have a baby, and you don’t need them to raise one either.

All medical professionals who do not support vaccines are “quacks, hucksters or bold face liars.” This argument might have carried some weight when only one physician spoke out against vaccines; but today, there are so many that its conveniently suspicious that every single time a physician comes out in support of not vaccinating or recommends a delayed schedule they get attacked, discredited, and demoted to “quack status.” I’m sorry but these physicians sat through the same classes. They passed their licensing boards like all of the other doctors, many have the prestigious “M.D” behind their names too, but because they read the research and came to a different conclusion and had the guts to say so, they’re stance is somehow less credible?

Attacking these physicians (whether they are an MD, DO, ND, or DC) is a bad idea. It makes one look like a bully and nobody likes a bully – not on the playground and not in the grown-up world either.

Speaking of bullies, stop showing us pictures of sick children, telling us that there’s no link between MMR and autism, or telling us dramatic narratives of an “infant who almost died of measles.” According to a recent study published in theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics, these messages elicit a “backfire effect” that only strengthens our deepest convictions – which to be honest, are based on a whole lot more than the autism debate. Is anyone else offended that a study was done where these misleading and one-sided messages were propagated among 1759 people to see if it would convince them to vaccinate? Is anyone else offended that these same tactics are still being used on us?

I don’t call this the “backfire effect,” I call this the bully effect. If we’re going to have to view pictures of sick children, please include pictures of children who have suffered from vaccine injuries and death and children who got a “vaccine preventable disease” from being vaccinated.

Thanks, whether or not we vaccinate is now part of the “Mommy Wars.”
As if mothers didn’t have enough things to be divided over, you’ve made it so that wherever we go be it daycares, schools, or playgroups we are ridiculed, judged, shunned, and our children as a whole are blamed for the re-emergence of diseases that never left and for spreading diseases they’ve never had. You made this a “Mommy War” issue when you somehow insinuated that a woman isn’t a good mother unless she vaccinates her child. You made this a mommy issue when I had to kneel down and explain to my three-year-old child why she was being discriminated against. You made this a mommy issue when you supported and promoted the following hateful belief system:

“[On the topic of vaccines.] We owe it to our children–all of our children–to speak out against this dangerous and misguided parenting choice before more are infected with horrifying diseases that were extinguished decades ago. Choosing not to vaccinate is not yet another anodyne trend in personal parenting. It’s not a quirk; it’s a menace—and a growing one at that.” – Bethany via theFederalist Papers

You know what makes a good mother, one who actually educates herself, questions what is put into her child’s body and makes an informed decision (whether she chooses to vaccinate or not). Call me a menace, call me a misguided parent, and blame me for spreading “horrifying diseases” that are actually neither horrifying nor extinguished. If it makes you feel better to fuel fire and spread hate than by all means proceed, as it doesn’t make your side of the movement look very good. I will neither hate nor discriminate against a mother’s decision on the issue of vaccination. No, I will not be part of the hate debate.

In our society we’re taught, told, and sometimes forced to be tolerant of other religions, races, and minority groups, people of different sexual orientations, women in the work place, and of a woman’s right to choose. We advocate bullying campaigns in schools to teach our children to respect others, but in the area of the hate debate, the voice of tolerance gets shoved aside.

In the last few weeks I have seen articles blaming “anti-vaxxers for measles outbreaks,” referring to us as loonies who have brought measles back from the brink of eradication (of course we’ll pretend that measles didn’t hit an all-time high of 222 cases in 2011 and that there weren’t 54 cases in 2012, and 189 cases in 2013).

An NY Times op ed piece suggested that vaccine exemptions should be eliminated. A post on a Harvard bloglast year suggested parents who choose not to vaccinate should be sued and held criminally liable for an outbreak traced back to their unvaccinated child…which is funny because I hear no one recommending the same for an outbreak traced back to a vaccinated child.

In a “TIME” op ed piece we were labeled misinformed, spoiled, and peddlers of “junk science.”Articleafterarticleinsinuates hate, fear mongering, and inaccurate propaganda that encourages intolerance towards individuals and parents who choose not to vaccinate their children. And what’s being recommended by vaccine advocacy groups is nothing short ofdiscriminationandsegregation:

We’re told that our vaccine exemptions should be curtailed, that they should be removed, that we should be forced to home school and prohibited from public schools and day cares. What’s next…will my children have to wear a patch on their clothing to delineate their vaccine status?

We all preach tolerance until there’s an opposing view. I for one will teach my children that despite what others may think of them, they are to neither discriminate nor disrespect another human being on the basis of one’s vaccination status.

“Vaccine preventable” diseases aren’t making a comeback, they never left.In a TIME article the unvaccinated were blamed for “4 Diseases Making a Comeback.” Funny how we’re blamed for the outbreaks of diseases that never left. According to theCDCthere were 222 cases of measles in 2011 (35-56% of which occurred in the vaccinated population), 54 in 2012, and 189 in 2013. As of April 10, 2014 there have only been 108 confirmed cases of measles. According to the CDC, measles isn’t a “deadly disease” it is “an illness characterized by a generalized rash lasting ≥3 days, a temperature of ≥101°F [≥38.3°C], and cough, coryza, or conjunctivitis.”

And what aboutmumps? In 2006, there were over 6,500 reported cases of mumps. In 2007-2008 there were a few hundred cases reported. In 2009 there were over 3,500 cases of mumps and in 2011-2013 levels returned to the “normal” few hundred cases reported. Between January 1st and April 4th, 164 cases of mumps were reported. Seriously…only 164? I don’t know about you but it’s looking like a pretty good year so far.

The CDCstates on its website that one dose of MMR is only 78% effective at preventing mumps and that “outbreaks can still occur in highly vaccinated U.S. communities, particularly in close-contact settings.” My favorite part? “Almost all people with mumps fully recover after a few weeks.” Please, tell me again how deadly mumps is and why my unvaccinated child is to blame for the comeback of a disease that never left?

And yet, we’re also to blame for the whooping cough outbreaks occurring in almost exclusively vaccinated populations who were vaccinated with an ineffective vaccine that makes one an asymptomatic carrier for the disease. According to the CDC, “the number of reported pertussis cases have been steadily increasing since the 1980s.” Other news sources have reported that the pertussis bacteria is becoming resistant to the vaccine and that B. parapertussis might actually be to blame for some of the outbreaks.

According to theNew England Journal of Medicine, even after five doses of Dtap a person’s chance of acquiring pertussis increases by 42% each year. Why didn’t I see this on the news? So, do we have an ineffective vaccine that’s actually causing outbreaks or is it the unvaccinated child that is making all of the vaccinated children sick? I personally think we should make sure before we start pointing the finger. Then again, I’m not a fan of the hate in this debate so maybe we should stop pointing the finger at children and start asking questions.

Finally, there’s chicken pox. Chicken pox is a very benign childhood disease that affected approximately 4 million people per year and had a death rate of 0.4% before vaccine licensure. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that even with the vaccine, 10 percent of vaccinated children contracted the disease anyway.

I’m so glad everyone has discovered that the whole “your unvaccinated kid is a risk to my vaccinated kid” argument is extremely flawed if one believe vaccines actually work; but now we’re being blamed for putting those who can’t be vaccinated at risk?

“Recently a 4-year-old girl with leukemia died from chickenpox. People with compromised immune systems have a greater risk of severe complications from chickenpox and may not be able to get the chickenpox vaccine. That’s why it’s important that these people be protected by herd immunity […].”

This was on theCDC’swebsite and is the typical propaganda being peddled around and used by others to emotionally manipulate, pressure, and guilt people into getting vaccinated.

I personally have a lot of issues with this type of propaganda. Death and sickness are horrible, especially when it comes to children; but we forget that children with severely compromised immune systems (as with the case of leukemia) can’t be around any sick child. Yes, my unvaccinated child could have a virus and be asymptomatic but the same applies to a vaccinated child. A child vaccinated for pertussis could be an asymptomatic carrier for the disease. A person vaccinated with MMR could have the vaccine-strain measles virus. A person vaccinated for chicken pox could shed the varicella virus and cause outbreaks. Save the last few years (when vaccines became above reproach), it was common course to recommend that a cancer patient avoid all contact with recently vaccinated children because of the propensity of live vaccine viruses to shed.

The chicken pox vaccine is a live virus vaccine that not only sheds but could cause chicken pox in a vaccinated individual – even if it’s a less severe case with only a few marks, this could be deadly to someone with leukemia. So who exactly is the risk here?

“Killed or inactivated vaccines do not represent a danger to immunocompromised persons and generally should be administered as recommended for healthy persons. For specific immunocompromising conditions […] additional vaccines, […] are recommended for them […] and higher doses or more frequent boosters may be required […].”

So let me get this straight, we’re being told that our unvaccinated children are a risk to the immunocompromised when the CDC states that inactive vaccines aren’t a danger AND that the immunocompromised should get vaccinated with higher doses and more frequent boosters than the rest of the population? What about Dtap/Tdap, influenza, pneumococcal, hep b, meningococcal, and other vaccines?

“For children who are severely immunocompromised or who are infected with HIV, DTP [Tdap, Dtap] vaccine is indicated in the same schedule and dose as for immunocompetent children […].”

“Because influenza may result in serious illness and complications for immunocompromised persons, vaccination is recommended.“

“Hepatitis B vaccine is also indicated for patients whose renal disease is likely to lead to dialysis or transplantation. […] Periodic booster doses are usually necessaryfollowingsuccessful immunization.”

“Routine immunization with the quadrivalent [meningococcal] vaccine is recommended for certain high-risk groups.”

“Other vaccines containing killed antigens […] do not pose a risk to immunocompromised persons and should be used for the same indications as for immunologically normal persons.”

So now that we’ve clarified that unvaccinated individuals do NOT need to be vaccinated with any non-live vaccine or flu vaccine to protect the immunocompromised (since these individuals can receive vaccinations), what about live virus vaccines and those with HIV?

“MMR vaccination is recommended for all children and for adults when otherwise indicated, regardless of their HIV status.”

What about certain medical conditions like renal failure, diabetes, alcoholic cirrhosis, or asplenia, which may increase the patient’s risk for certain diseases?

“Frequently, the immune response of these patients to these antigens is not as good as that of immunocompetent persons, and higher doses or more frequent boosters may be required. Persons with these conditions […] should receive routine vaccinations with both live and inactivated vaccines according to the usual schedules.”

What about varicella vaccine and those with cancer? According to theCDC, the only people who shouldn’t get this vaccine are those who are severely ill at the time the shot is administered, pregnant women, and those with a history of allergic reaction to the vaccine. People who have cancer, HIV, or severe immune system conditions should check with their physician.

And what if animmunocompromisedperson (including one who wasn’t able to get vaccinated) is exposed to varicella or measles from an unvaccinated OR vaccinated person? For measles, one could get the IG (immunoglobulin). For varicella they could receive a varicella-zoster immune globulin (VZIG), and for hepatitis B one could receive a Hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG).

Did anyone even readthisbefore they swapped one flawed argument for another? Let’s see,I’m supposed to subject my child to the hazards of 49 doses of 14 vaccines before age six to potentially protect a vastly smaller population of people (who are deemed more important) even though they can receive all non-active vaccines, can almost always receive live vaccines (or have been vaccinated prior to the condition), and have the option of using an immunoglobulin post-exposure?

I am sure there are a few individuals who want to be vaccinated and can’t (though I argue that most people who have medical exemption to vaccines want them) but is it ethical to subject the entire U.S population to the risks of a biologically invasive vaccine or a healthy infant who poses no threat of contracting a deadly disease to the possible adverse reactions of a vaccine? And what if everyone is vaccinated – how do you know if the vaccine was effective at inducing immunity or when itwears off? Will there be daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly titers checks? Even if one has titers they can still get the “vaccine preventable disease” and spread it, what then? Will adults have boosters too? How will we protect those unable to get vaccines from people shedding live vaccine viruses? How can we tell whose an asymptomatic reservoir for whooping cough? Where’s the recourse for those who would be injured as a result of this mass vaccination insanity? Is a physician willing to take legal responsibility in the event a vaccine injury occurs?

Until there is a comprehensive study comparing the health of unvaccinated children with vaccinated children, NOBODY should be requiring or recommending that anyone be vaccinated for the sake of “public health.” Almost a year ago billH.R 1757 (a bill calling for such a study) was introduced and referred to the committee on “Energy and Commerce,” and it is still sitting there.

Everyone knows a vaccine-injured child. Conditions we consider “normal” like ear infections, food allergies, and eczema were unheard of in the days of our grandparents. Asthma, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, autism, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy, brain encephalitis, developmental disorders, and neurological problems were also uncommon. So we traded in polio (which according to the CDC isasymptomatic in 95% of people who actually get it) for vaccine induced paralytic polio and cancer via contaminated Salk vaccines. We traded in chicken pox for shingles, anaphylaxis shock, and death; measles for brain encephalitis; and the minuscule chance an infant would get Hep b for rheumatoid arthritis and SIDS. Considering only a few hundred cases of measles are reported per year and only one child dies from measles approximately 8-10 years (if we’re going with the touted 1 in 1,000 number), wouldn’t it make sense to question the MMR vaccine which could cause Measles-Induced Neuroautistic Encephalophathy, seizures, coma, and death?

I am not part of the “herd” and neither are you. Herd immunity was coined in 1933 by A.W Hedrich who observed measles outbreaks over the course of thirty years. What he discovered was that if 68% of the population had measles through the natural course of infection, the rest of the community (or herd) was protected. But you see, vaccines aren’t natural and they don’t provide life-time immunity, and even if they did 68% would be the number needed for herd immunity, not 95%. Your (and my) herd immunity was threatened the minute vaccines came on the scene.

“The “science” of vaccination attempts to secure immunity without going through the natural disease process. The vaccine-induced process, although not resembling a natural disease, is nevertheless still a disease process with its own risks. And it is not immunity we gain via vaccination but a puny surrogate of immunity. For this reason vaccination is neither a safe nor effective method of disease prevention.” – Dr. Tetyana Obukhanych PhD in immunology and author of “Vaccine Illusion.”

“This high percentage of individuals having long-term immunity [to natural chicken pox] has been compromised by mass vaccination of children which provides at best 70 to 90% immunity that is temporary and of unknown duration—shifting chickenpox to a more vulnerable adult population where chickenpox carries 20 times more risk of death and 15 times more risk of hospitalization compared to children. Add to this the adverse effects of both the chickenpox and shingles vaccines as well as the potential for increased risk of shingles for an estimated 30 to 50 years among adults.” – Dr. Goldberg Ph.D also confirmed by a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Please stop assuming that all people who choose not to vaccinate do so because they’re “scared” a vaccine might cause autism.People choose not to vaccinate for any number of reasons including but not limited to, religious beliefs, lack of research and clinical efficacy, dangers and risks of vaccine additives, possible adverse reactions and the higher risk of an adverse reaction versus the disease, risk of vaccine contamination and viral shedding, belief in other methods of prevention, and lack of safety data surrounding the current (insane) vaccination schedule. And yes, some do not vaccinate because they fear that vaccines could contribute to or cause autism.

Wait, vaccines don’t cause autism! Are you saying that because brain encephalitis isn’t a reaction on the vaccine inserts or because you were a victim of the “let’s say vaccines don’t cause autism so people will vaccinate their kids” propaganda? Oh I know, you reviewed the results of the comprehensive study that’s never been done comparing rates of autism in the unvaccinated versus vaccinated population.

Those of us who believe there are safer and more effective ways to prevent disease are not conspiracy theorists, we just incorporated that little addendum to the germ theory that said “germs only live in environments conducive to growth.”A conspiracy theory is the belief in little green men who walk on Mars and are secretly controlling our every move via invisible puppet strings. What we’re all tired of, is people pretending the American Medical Association has been around since the beginning of time and that everything else is “new age, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theory.” I hate to point out the obvious but the AMA has only been around since 1847. Before that, there were homeopathic physicians/doctors (1789) homeopathic hospitals (1825), and the establishment of the American Institute of Homeopathy in (1841).

Do you know what was around before all of that? Natural medicine – circa day 1 if you believe in God and circa day “the first time the ape-like human got a cut and put a leaf with spit on it instead of a band-aid and antibiotic” if you don’t. Hippocrates, the credited father of allopathic medicine practiced and advocated natural medicine – his motto was “do no harm.” So if you take beliefs from his ideology it’s “medicine” and if we take beliefs from his ideology it’s “quack-worthy?” If anything sounds like a “conspiracy theory” it’s the belief that the immune system requires the administration of a germ to protect itself from a germ.

Just because one doesn’t vaccinate, doesn’t mean they’re “anti-medicine.”Medical advancement has brought us many things, some good, some not. I for one do not support vaccinations but that doesn’t mean I don’t support the advancement in treatment for these diseases should they (in rare case) be needed. Some of us simply believe there are other ways to prevent disease that do not require injecting a research and clinically ineffective substance that contains toxic additives, live viruses, and can cause a wide array of very serious side-effects into our children.

Take the HATE out of the debate.If you want to encourage people to vaccinate than by all means, utilize your freedoms to do so, but bullying, lying, misrepresenting facts, name-calling, downplaying, overlooking, and scoffing at vaccine injured children, finger-pointing, discriminating, crucifying physicians who speak out, and threatening individuals who wish not to vaccinate will not further your cause; it will only encourage people like me to speak out on behalf of those of us who have educated ourselves and are calling for more accountability and higher standards for our children.

Vaccination is and should always be a personal choice. Everyone should have the right to do their own research, formulate their own opinion, and come to a different conclusion if they feel its best. Every parent should have autonomy over their child’s healthcare. Most importantly children should not be used as pawns in a manipulative scheme to get parents to conform to what was once a noble idea and is now a hatefully notorious agenda.

Related

Comments

WOW. great article, thank you. There is however one point I never see anyone address and that is this: If it were to be proven that the pharmaceutical companies have lied about the vaccines and that they knew they were ineffective and very dangerous. That these vaccines have kind injured untold numbers of people over numerous decades. What would the legal and financial ramification’s look like? They would probably have to face the largest class action lawsuit(s) the world has ever seen. That’s not including what would happen to the medical community as a whole. They too would be facing lawsuits. So they would have trillions plus of reasons to protect and cover up anything about vaccines that they didn’t want us to know.

The point of the law (Title 42, 6A, XIX, 2, a, §300aa-11, a, 2) is to prevent lawsuits against vaccine producers as a matter of ensuring public acceptance of vaccine programs. The ONLY recourse an injured person has is through NVIC:http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/index.html

I don’t think it is a hate debate. I think it is a fear debate. We are all parents and fear for our children. We are all trying to do right by the lights of our lives. When there is no clear answer I think it would be foolish to think that everyone is going to be on the same page. However, if you buck the system or the norm you need to be prepared for blowback. No movement in the history of man has been immediately met with open arms. These are diseases that have not been completely eradicated, but the current number of cases, no matter how severe, are a fraction of a percent of just the death tolls 2 generations ago. There are so many factors in why this has happened, but I think it would be ridiculous to count out vaccines as a major player. I wish there was a clear and concise answer here that everyone could get behind. If you really believe in one side or the other, keep fighting your fight. But writing an article that calls this a ‘Hate Debate’ is not helping anyone, no matter how well written.

It absolutely is a hate debate. Are you really reading the newspapers, online rants, letters to the editors, etc. lately. Pitchforks and bonfires. On January 28, 2015 USA Today ran a column by Alex Berezow titled “Jail Anti-Vax Parents”. Dr. Paul Offit has written than non-vaccinating parents should be charged with child abuse. Yes, sadly, a hate-debate

Reading “Dissolving Illusions” by Dr. Suzanne Humphries. It will negate all the misinformation out there regarding vaccination.

It may not be a hate debate from your perspective, but it is from mine. The vitriol and accusations are rampant in most discussions I’ve seen. Oddly, the vitriol is from the vaxed. Vitriol is a manifestation of anger fueled by ignorance. We vax-choicers are certain of our stance: we are certain the facts are far from settled. We are certain that, while correlation does not equal causation, there’s too much correlation, too much “coincidence,” to ignore.

One more thought on the Hate Debate – a recent development. Joe Matthew, Time Magazine, calls for an outing of parents who don’t vaccinate. Yes, Really. He advocates publishing their addresses. Shame on you, Joe Matthews. Read the site, but most importantly, read the comments on his article. They say more than I ever could.

Can someone please tell me “where you go for reliable statistics” on these things. I don’t trust the CDC and every time I go to their site, looking for stats, I get different results. It’s hard to read for me and then I still wonder if they are reporting responsibly. I just think if we can rely on reputable figures, then this debate should be over. HELP!

I actually see NO real scientific citations. This to me is just another rant written to prove a point on only one side. I cant find any real statistics, meaning STATISTICAL OUTPUTS (not just numbers spouted from who knows where) from REAL studies. I will admit these studies are hard to find but searching on plain Google is the worst way to go about it. I recommend Google Scholar ( scholar.google.com ). This gives you a more reputable list of sources than just posts like this one. Try reading actual studies that have been peer reviewed by scientists or medical professionals in the field. And most importantly keep an open mind. I see comments back and forth that are FULL of hate, even from the person that posted this. The hatred comes from a closed mind and no room for new information unless it agrees with what they want. A person who truly wants to be an educated member of society is willing to learn and question but also accept information from those who knows more then themselves. We can’t all be experts. So why not believe those who are and specifically the majority. Scientist are not out to get you, a majority are doing what they love because they can help in some way.

I am not saying whether or not I am on any side. I am just tired of reading articles from both sides with NO real citations. If this was written correctly and cited correctly I would believe it so much more. Here is a published paper with correct citations and statistics behind what they are saying. https://iaomt.org/TestFoundation/nolinkmmr.htm. The REAL citations throughout the paper are listed at the bottom so you can find those papers and read them for yourselves. This one isn’t perfect but it’s much better than being informed by an article in the above format.

Instead of reporting first sign of autism, it’s reporting “diagnosis” of autism according to a standard (ICD10) that wasn’t even used except for the *last year* of a study based on 7 years worth of data.

Further, diagnosis requires a doctor to actually see the child to perform an exam, while documented wait times in 97 (Wolstenholme 1999) averaged 20 months. If access to perform the proper diagnosis takes this long, then the cases would be dismissed as irrelevant according to study parameters, even if the onset of symptoms occurred immediately after the MMR was given. The most relevant information, observed onset of signs and symptoms, was not actually included in this study, which is why it’s so easy to dismiss this type of study.

This is roughly equivalent to an auto manufacturer with a critical recall declaring that their cars were safe for the entire period before the recall took place, because up to that point their cars weren’t taken en masse to mechanics to get the defect resolved. Awareness of the problem (diagnosis) doesn’t mean the problem did not exist prior, only that it had not yet been officially determined.

I ran across your post by chance. (A friend of a friend posted it) while I don’t agree with you on many things I will say its thoughtfully written. I do really want to point something out to both sides of the debate that you maybe haven’t thought about. I’m writing this as an autism parent. Autism isn’t a catastrophe. Many parents of autistic kids are having to explain a lot to their children. “Are they scared their children are going to be like me?” Do you know how difficult that is to answer???

Some people (not all) in the anti-vaccination movement treat autism as a calamity far worse than a debilitating disease or death. What the pro-vaccine people also need to recognize is that every time we respond to vaccines and autism with the words, “don’t worry, vaccines don’t cause autism,” that is also not okay. Because instead of pointing out that, hey, autism and neurodiversity are far from the worst things that could happen to a parent, “vaccines don’t cause autism” falls into the same narrative as “vaccines cause autism” – both suggest that autism is this boogeyman that lives under our kids’ beds that could strike at any time.

Autistic people aren’t “gone.” Their brains function differently than neurotypical brains, which often leads to them becoming overwhelmed by outside stimuli in a way that other people might not. So, in a sense, they’re more present than many of us are – they’re bombarded by sights, sounds and smells that neurotypical people can ignore or dismiss. They are very much “here,” trying way harder than most to process what “here” is. So get out of here with your misinformed ideas about autistic people having no light in their eyes or no soul. Get out of here and maybe go meet an actual autistic person.

At the end of the day, words matter and how we talk about issues matters.

The debate about vaccination should be autism-inclusive, and that means re-evaluating the way we talk about autism and vaccines. Please, as you join the ongoing discussion our society is having about public health and vaccinations, know that there are people with ASD listening closely to the subtext of your words and choices, and they’re decoding the hidden messages about their worth and humanity.

One of the reasons that we are fortunate enough in this country to even have the luxury of having this debate is the fact that the US is a first world country and that we do have the vast majority of our “herd” vaccinated. There are still approximately 400 deaths per day around the world due to measles. The vast majority of these are in third world countries where people do not have access to the vaccination or cannot afford the cost of the vaccinations for their children. In some of these areas, people travel for days on foot to reach vaccine clinics set up by groups like UNICEF. They make tremendous personal sacrifices to give their children the gift of immunity, something many people here take for granted.

I also wonder one other thing about your theory here. You say that since “only” 1 in a 1,000 children die from measles, we must question the necessity of vaccination. You failed to mention the other 2-3 children in that same thousand that will be left with debilitating brain damage, loss of sight or hearing, or nerve damage. I think it’s important to give people all of the facts. But moreover, I wonder just how deadly you need a disease to be before you consider a vaccine necessary. If a disease were killing 1 in 500 children, or 1 in 250, would that be enough to compel you? Where is your line?

You also mention Measles Induced Neuroautistic Encephalopathy as a possible outcome of the vaccine. But you didn’t mention Subacute Sclerosing PanEncephalitis, which is a possible outcome of a measles infection. Again, you’re not providing your audience with all of the facts.

Jessica, I am using the MMWR data. When was the last time a child in the United States got brain encephalitis, blindness, or nerve damage from measles? For herd immunity read here and here. For more on measles read here.

In your Schmeales Measles article you say “Given U.S statistics, they’re more likely to die from the MMR vaccine.”

Statistically, this is true, but it’s only true because there are hundreds of thousands of doses of vaccine given each year in the US, and there are only several hundred cases of wild measles BECAUSE most people are vaccinated. You’re using the herd immunity you say isn’t helping us to prove your point. And the Subacute Sclerosing PanEncephalitis that results from wild measles occurred in approximately every 1 in 10,000 wild measles cases in the 60’s, before wide-spread vaccination when there were generally over 500,000 cases of wild measles each year. Where is the conclusive data showing the frequency of Measles Induced Neuro Autistic Encephalopathy?

I can’t access the second link you sent me regarding herd immunity, but after reviewing the first article it seems the main point being made is that vaccines don’t confer protection to every single vaccinated person, and that herd immunity isn’t 100% effective. I wouldn’t dispute either of those points. We know vaccination isn’t perfect. We also know that not everyone who gets a disease has life-long immunity. But there is NO doubt that mass immunization has SIGNIFICANTLY reduced the number of cases. There were over 750,000 measles cases in 1958. There were around 20,000 cases in 1968.

I don’t disagree with you that there are risks from having vaccinations. But the accepted medical data doesn’t agree that the vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases themselves if we compare actual cases of disease with actual doses of vaccine given. If we only look at 644 cases of measles, we won’t find very many serious cases. But I assure you that the number of adverse event reported from 644 MMR vaccines would also be exceedingly low.

You’re asserting facts not in evidence. These same nations where measles is causing the problems it still is don’t have the sanitation or other systemic improvements we have in the US. You’re making the same flawed (and oft disproven) assumptions that have been made since the vaccination debate began. For example, these places don’t have Disneyland’s either. Maybe Disney is why our measles infections are so low?

While your argument may be true for less communicable diseases like Ebola (which is highly infectious but not very contagious). Perhaps you are unaware of the way Measles is transmitted. It doesn’t require poor sanitation. It requires someone to cough or sneeze in the same space other people occupy. It is 90% contagious in the US just as it is 90% contagious in Africa.

Not buying that. MMR is a live measles virus. Attenuated, perhaps, but *live* nonetheless. If the infection rate were truly 90% then we’d have a storm of measles cases every time someone with an even partially compromised immune system (flu, for example) received the MMR. Since the CDC still declares the rate is 90%, the only reasonable conclusion is that they’re cooking the numbers.

You’ll have to forgive me if the fact that you “don’t buy it” doesn’t make me believe the medical science any less. I’m not a conspiracy theorist myself, but if you distrust the US government agencies, check medical studies from ANY OTHER country in the world. Doctors in the UK, Australia, Germany, etc, all agree.

Start with Italy where they acknowledge the connection between vaccines and autism and vaccines and SIDS. Then look at Japan and why they stopped requiring vaccines for babies under the age of 2. Then move to the UK, and look at their clinical definition of chicken pox and why they don’t push this vaccine. Then look at France and their views on the MMR vaccine, specifically their court rulings. Finally, go to a third world country and ask them what they think about vaccines and ask them whether they’d rather have food, or a not-safe, neurotoxic, could cause a serious adverse reaction injection.

Sorry, you violated rule #1 of reasoned discourse. Every time you claim that professionals of any stripe “all” agree (in “ANY OTHER country” even), you’re going to be dismissed as either a nincompoop, an ignoramus or a zealot. Reasoned discourse doesn’t need any more of any of those, as they can neither be persuaded nor reasoned with.

Forgive me if the fact that you aren’t “buying that” doesn’t dissuade me from accepting current medical data. I’m not a conspiracy theory myself, but if you don’t believe the US government medical agencies to report accurate information, research medical studies from ANY OTHER country. Doctors in the UK, Australia, Germany, etc, all agree on the 90% number.

FYI, based on your comments, I’m not certain you understand how vaccines work. First of all, you can’t get a measles vaccine (or any other live vaccine for that matter) if you have a fever (like with the flu). Furthermore, having a disease like the flu doesn’t mean your immune system is “compromised”. What compromises an immune system is a serious chronic disease like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, or certain medications, etc.

Most importantly, the efficacy of a vaccine depends on a healthy immune response to the virus contained in that vaccine. So people who are immunocompromised actually need LARGER doses of a vaccine to become immune. That’s why the flu vaccine for the elderly is a “high-dose” vaccine. A vaccine wouldn’t make an immunocompromised person “sick” or cause a “storm” of any disease. It just won’t cause that person to develop immunity.

Where did you get YOUR medical degree? I just loved all the “Facts” and “Figures” you were quoting. Sounded good, except that they were all WRONG. Sorry, just can’t take anymore of my time to respond to someone who writes drivel.

I’ll ignore the personal attacks and illusions of assurance of the “scientific data” (that, mind you, has never adequately been collected — there has NEVER been a true double-blind study of vaccination effectiveness and lifelong comparison of health and quality of life).

Instead, I’ll ask what type of needles you’re using that manage to forbid sick people from ever getting stuck. Do they come with some form of force-field on them that prevents them from being stabbed into someone with a runny nose or slightly increased temperature, or are you living under the false assumption that doctors, nurses and their staff “follow the rules” (which again, don’t actually say NOT to give them but to “consult your doctor,” who has a financially vested interest — and no personal liability — in vaccinating the child anyway).

And again, I’ll reiterate that *live* virus vaccines are *live* viruses. Attenuated or not, they ARE transmissible when the subject has a weakened immune system which allows the virus to gain a foothold. This is the way the virus operates in the wild — it starts with a tiny infection and reproduces. I am fully aware that immunocompromised individuals are typically given a larger or more frequent doses, but that simply supports my position. This increases the risk of shedding which directly increases the risk of the virus causing others to be infected. If you are not familiar with the concept of shedding, you can read about this on Google Scholar – there’s at least 70k results.

Vaccines do not increase a person’s “health”- as in to make one healthier. They only offer the chance of immunity to the specific disease. In 3rd world countries they lack first world amenities like fresh water and sanitation and food abundance. Their overall health is poor. That’s why in the last 50+ years vaccines have NOT been able to stem the tide of disease in the 3rd world. Countries that have made the biggest gains in disease control also have made advances in living conditions. The two go hand in hand. Vaccines alone have not won any wars. So yes measles is just as contagious in Disneyland as in Ethiopia but in the first world our overall better health means better outcomes.

Also the very nature of tracking any type of vaccine injury is virtually non existent in the current system. VAERS is a passive system that the CDC, FDA or Government have no accountability to “follow-up” and verify any claims of vaccine injury. Being a “passive” recording system- meaning anyone can record a vaccine incident. It’s assumed that in such systems (i.e rape victims) that events are severely under-reported. So in essence any real data on adverse effects is not truly known. And that’s a flawed system- having no accountability to the very people who you wish to vaccinate. It makes vaccines all good with nothing but “correlation is not causation” for a downside. By not having any “real” adverse event data they (government/CDC/FDA) have set up the illusion that vaccines are near perfect… as they don’t care to record hard data facts otherwise. It’s an uphill battle that glorifies the “hits” and NEVER the “misses”. And that’s NOT good science… and is a great injustice to the parents and babes that need that information to make an informed decision.

I was in no way implying that vaccines make a person “healthier”. But I would argue that keeping people as healthy as possible (via the use of vaccines) in third world countries with poor infrastructures and poor medical care seems like a no brainer. Anything that would reduce the amount of diseases a person would likely contract in such an area would obviously increase a person’s overall lifespan.

I also wasn’t speaking to the “outcomes” of communicable diseases. Of course the outcomes will be less favorable in less developed countries. I was speaking only to the fact that measles is highly contagious, both in the third world and in the “first” world. We’re not talking about a fecal-oral route of transmission like cholera here. We’re talking a disease transmittable by cough or sneeze.

As far as the government creating the “illusion” that vaccines are near perfect, I suspect you haven’t taken a young child to the pediatrician in the last 10 years or so for an inoculation of any kind. If you had, you would have been furnished at that time with a CDC issued print-out of all of the possible adverse event that may occur with any vaccine, as well as the VAERS reporting hotline number.

I very much liked the premise of the intro. It is time to set aside hatred and bullying. That helps no one when it comes to making informed decisions about a complex issue. Which is why I was disappointed by the tone throughout the rest of this article. This was not the calm and respectful dialogue I was hoping for. In fact, I felt demeaned and insulted reading it.

Vaccinations are not a perfect thing. But they are not the source of all evil. It would be convenient to blame them for so much, but life is more complicated than that. And those of us who fear the deadly epidemics of the past, who trust the expertise of the majority in the field of immunology are not being unreasonable. I’m sorry you feel dismissed or picked on, people should listen to each other. Please extend the same courtesy to those of us who feel the risks of these diseases are significant.

By the way, my daughter has leukemia, so her life is very much at stake. Having cases of whooping cough and mumps in our area makes life just that much more horrifying right now. Last year we had over 300 cases of the measles here in BC.

We are all afraid. Because this is important. Open minded research into both sides is important. Less anger would make that easier.

Thank you so much for this well thought out and cmpehensive article. I feel as though you cracked my head open, rearranged everything to make sense, and then wrote this! You hit on all of the issues I am constantly feeling or seeing go on and you did it with wisdom, confidence and class!

For a full time working mom that is trying to research myself as much as possible but doesn’t want to be up till 2am… Do you have any books on this topic that you’d recommend? I find your article a breath of fresh air! So many that I have read don’t cite sources, have correct spelling and appear to be written out of emotion instead of fact. I appreciate your direct, logical, well written approach! Thank you for speaking out on such a hot topic in such a calm way.

Yes! Definitely. “Dissolving Illusions” by Dr. Suzanne Humphries is really good. It goes through each disease and is very (very) well referenced. A lot of people like “Vaccine Illusions” also which is written by Dr. Tetyana O. (who has a PhD in immunology). I’ve read many more but these two are by far my favorites and are a good place to start. Thanks for reading! I’m glad you liked my post.

One of the first comments says that unless a child is immunocompromised, all children should be vaccinated. Whoa now. This attitude is part of the problem. Some food allergic children should absolutely not be vaccinated. My son is deathly allergic to gelatin and pork. We can’t even be in the same room as ham. Our doctor says to go ahead and vax him. I most certainly will not. It’s all just a fear campaign and I’m so tired of it. 34 people die daily of gun violence. Where is the outrage about that? There’s your real epidemic and the numbers continue to rise…

Thank you, Megan, for this wonderful piece. Thank you for having the guts and the smarts to write something this good. I agree completely with everything you’re written. What I find the most disturbing in the current public discourse is how easy it is to use propaganda to get people to vehemently support eliminating basic freedoms. It seems that all of our progress has done nothing to curb the violent mob mentality. Nothing has changed in the years since Mark Twain said “It is easier to fool people that to convince them that they are being fooled.”

Thank you Megan for this most comprehensive and very passionate article tackling the latest measles HYPE. My comment will be more philosophical than some of the other comments. Ultimately this whole discussion comes down to FEAR. Fear (from all sides) of DEATH or the prospect of being physically harmed by a disease or by a man made product.

We must get beyond the fear because if we don’t our country can easily slide into becoming a totalitarian regime. This is very very dangerous territory. I am talking Nazi Germany. I hope we don’t go that route.

I am thankful for people like yourself who really seek the truth and share your knowledge with the rest of us. I too was concerned when at 42 I got pregnant and had my first and only child. I questioned everything. I read and delved into both sides of this controversial subject. I had to make a decision about my child’s health and because we still have RIGHTS I chose to use them.

By the grace of God we come into this world. It truly is a miracle that any living thing exists here on this amazing blue planet. We don’t know how long we have or how we will die. All we can do is use our smarts to survive a very complex world. I follow the laws of nature. if we get sick our bodies heal. Nature provides so much for our survival. I know that I will die someday and I am at peace with my mortality. I also know my son will die too. We are all going to die and we should not be afraid of death. Life and death are part of a continuum. You cannot have one without the other. It’s the Yin and the Yang. It’s the circle of life.

I do what I can NATURALLY to keep me and my family healthy and that’s all I can do. If there are man made creations out there that purport to keep us free from natural diseases I must know the dangers of these things, the risks, the consequences to my health as well as my kids.

I’d like to believe that I live in a country that allows me the FREEDOM to choose what I want to put into my body. As a parent I know that it’s my duty to nurture my children and do all that is in my power to protect them from harm. I cannot control every aspect of my kid’s life. Yes he can succumb to some infection and die. He can also get hit by a car, get shot from a stray bullet, drown in a lake, die of a concussion playing football etc…. It’s a FACT we are all just mere mortals here in this space time continuum.

We are all here on borrowed time. So while we live in this country let’s be open to each and every person’s way of life and respect each other’s choice. I may not like it that my neighbor drinks too much or that when I walk downtown I have to take a whiff of all of the smoke from the smokers on their breaks. NO I don’t like that at all but I WILL NOT offend, judge,condemn, ridicule or demonize them.
It comes down to the GOLDEN RULE. Treat others as you would like to be treated or if you are into the bible LOVE THY NEIGHBOR. Let’s stop the HATE and start spreading LOVE and COMPASSION to ALL

Thanks for a great article–you said what I was thinking. I have 2 children (17 & 12). We do not vaccinate, but thought little of it until lately. We homeschool so we do not have to worry about the school issue. But it is nice to know that we are not alone. Keep up the good work!!!

I completely agree with everything you have written, and could not have written it better myself though man, I have tried. Thank you caring. thank you for being informed. Also, seriously looking into moving to another country. I cannot stand the climate of hate in this one! join us! I have a vaccine injured child so this whole debate is like trampling on my heart continuously.

I will not discuss with anyone what i stance is on vaccines (except a small handful that has known of my stance and respects my decision). It’s just too much of a divisive subject and to honest, i don’t feel i should have to defend my choice. It is insane seeing how hateful people are getting. Luckily this blog as well as informative pages and groups, there are people who are just as concerned as you. Have faith, you are following your maternal instincts.

“Oh I know, you reviewed the results of the comprehensive study that’s never been done comparing rates of autism in the unvaccinated versus vaccinated population.”

Actually, I did. That was my term paper for Biology and guess what! No link between the MMR and autism. However, I personally suspect that earlier vaccines may have increased symptoms slightly because of the metal content, which those with autism cannot expel from their body like those without autism can.

Now, if you want to know why there is a rise in autism, then look to genes and environment. You brought up early medicine, so I will too. Waaaay back then, families didn’t just have 2 children because the rate of mortality was high and society wasn’t as humane as it is today. A child with a deformity, for example, would be left to die and therefore the bad genes weren’t passed on. The rates of autism, therefore, were low. Now, medicine has come a long way in a short time and so has many other things like groups who abhor and fight against such things. Let us not forget that DNA has a tendency to mutate when enough replications occur, especially when toxins, like car exhaust and pollution from factories, are present during vital times in a child’s life (and I consider a fetus a child, for the record). Therefore, rates of autism are at a recorded higher rate. Maybe, we shouldn’t be looking at vaccines and be fighting major corporations to lower their pollution rates.

Lastly, as a full supporter of vaccines, I do not believe this has anything to do about hate. I believe it has everything to do about fear. Our generation has not fully understood what an epidemic of measles, mumps, rubella or even small pox does. My mother would tell me stories and I could see the fear in her eyes, which is why she had my brother and me vaccinated. She would tell me how it felt when she had measles and mumps. She would tell me about the panic when someone got small pox. I have read the books about the eradication of small pox and how it could turn deadly by becoming black pox. I also know that viruses CAN mutate and become something else, just look at HIV and/or Ebola and how there are more than 2 strains. Just because a child has yet to die to measles in this recent outbreak doesn’t mean that someone wont or their quality of life is going to be awesome. There’s risk in everything, even drinking water. I will be honest though, if your child went to the same school as my son I would be nervous. However, being that he is vaccinated I know my child is protected from yours but not every child can be. What really angers me is that everyone is thinking about THEIR choice instead of thinking about everyone. Ok, you don’t want chemicals in your kid (btw the MMR vaccine ingredient list has changed is is less harmful than some of the stuff out there) but you are putting other people at risk. You want your unvaccinated child to go out there and not be discriminated against but still put other people at risk. Doing this takes the choice away from another. I made the choice to vaccinate my child, who is quite healthy thank you very much, and it won’t bring harm to another child. Believe me, I understand your need to have a choice in the life of your child and I truly believe there is a happy medium but we just aren’t there yet.

Sorry, one last thing…polio. FDR didn’t have a vaccine. Also, there was a woman in Australia who wasn’t vaccinated and now tries to educate parents on the need for vaccines. Why? Because she contracted it and has issues with the whole walking thing. One thing to not vaccinate your child but don’t go out there and say polio isn’t all that bad. It’s horrible. The iron lung was a real thing until the vaccination made it obsolete. Normally I would link all this cool peer reviewed scientific stuff (I’m a science junkie, dreaming of being a virologist, Christian :D) but you recommended not doing so, but if you want me to get ya any…let me know. I could also recommend a few cool books that actually tell you about the history and the erradication efforts in 1978 and emerging diseases….ok, LOL I’ll stop now. (BTW, post is neutral tone, no anger or anything like that except at the end when my passion for virology is actually beginning to show. Please only take this in a neutral tone.)

Hi Elli, Thanks for the comment. You sound very passionate about what you are studying and I think that is great! I wish I could address your comment in detail but I’ll leave you with a few questions:
1. What are your thoughts on Wakefield’s book (and obviously, the citations) as I’m assuming you read it so you could form an objective opinion on the subject?
2. How do you feel about senior research scientist Dr. Thompson confession that autism studies are being manipulated?
3. Do you take any issue with the fact that most of the studies that look into whether the MMR vaccine causes autism is funded by the maker of the MMR vaccine or entities with financial and political conflicts of interests?
4. Have you researched the change in diagnostic criteria that occurred post licensure of the polio vaccine to make it look more effective? Prior to the vaccine, anything resulting in paralysis lasting longer than 24 hours was diagnosed as polio (aseptic meningitis, GBS, SJS, enterovirus, coxsackie, DDT/arsenic/lead poisoning, syphillis, etc.). It is speculated that FDR actually had GBS, not polio and we still have iron lungs…they are called ventilators and people who would have been diagnosed with polio prior to the change in diagnostic criteria still use them.
5. How do you feel about the immunocompromised as it pertains to recently vaccinated children (live viruses shed) and adults (whose temporary vaccine immunity, if any, has long worn off)? What about a child who gets vaccinated but doesn’t get immunity and her parent, thinking she is “protected”, doesn’t realize her child has an illness and infects another? Honestly, do you really that the above groups are exempt from putting others at risk?
6. What do you think about a vaccine’s ability to cause the MTHFR gene mutation to express itself leading to autism (as it has been proven that vaccines can cause autism in children with this mutation)?

I get upset/frustrated when different opinions end up condescending, derogatory, and/or insulting.

I feel that as parents — and humans — we all have the right to our feelings. I appreciate reading BOTH sides of the ongoing “vaccine debate” though.

I hope you pursue your interests in virology, and applaud your efforts in standing up for vaccinations.

This is meant as no disrespect to Megan, of course, since I’ve made it clear that I’m respecting of all parents and their beliefs. At the end of the day, we’re in this boat together … right? I believe WHOLEHEARTEDLY that regardless of our feelings on vaccinations —- NONE of us want to see our precious babes, loved ones, or ANYone, for that matter, potentially die in a horrific manner, from a painful & debilitating disease. Whether that means taking the chance and sparing them from the whatta-whatta-whattas of a shot … or getting the shot(s) spoken of and potentially having ill-effects (??) … ? … at the end of the day, we’re all hoping we made the right decision(s). I guess that’s what parenting is all about in ALL forms, really…….?

Thanks! Yes I know about the 1990 epidemic I was just trying to use more recent data (post measles “elimination”) but I could have gone there as well! I was only 3 then but I would venture to guess that we are setting a new precedent.

I find it interesting that I have made at least five posts of facts that counter all points you’ve made, and yet you haven’t posted one of them. How interesting. You don’t want facts, you just want your way.

I had never heard of a vaccine reaction until my daughter had one 29 years ago. My pediatrician advised me not to vaccinate my other children. He told me he personally had a vaccine death, and another serious near death. My next pediatrician was comfortable with our decision not to, though I think he was comfortable with either. Our family doc now, and he is in his 60s, is very pro choice, and did not fully vaccinate his own children. We later did do polio, as we lived in a 3 rd world country for 2 years, but I confess my research on the subject was lacking. Our 7 th child was adopted at 18 months and came with a full set of immunizations. He got chicken pox anyway, and has suffered from terrible ear infections for most of his young life. I realize it may not be related, and I respect people’s choice, but that is our family experience, for what it is worth….

“Some of us simply believe there are other ways to prevent disease that do not require injecting a research and clinically ineffective substance that contains toxic additives, live viruses, and can cause a wide array of very serious side-effects into our children.”

It’s a pleasure to read 4,000 words in opposition to vaccination that aren’t the least bit inflammatory to pro-vax parents who are – clearly – in favor of injecting “clinically ineffective substances,” “toxic additives” and “live viruses” into their children. They don’t mind vaccine reactions like “brain encephalitis” and other fun stuff. This should serve as an exemplary model for rising above the fray and committing oneself to “not be part of the hate debate.” Perhaps it’s the “higher standards” for your children that sets anti-vax parents apart. Your balanced perspective is refreshing and I’m encouraged that there’s one anti-vax mommy-blogger out there who is above innuendo and all this hate nonsense.

Thank you for this refreshing post! You always write so well and have great facts to back it up. For me it comes down to I know vaccines are not safe and effective. I have prayed about them and know that it is not all black and white. Thank you for writing this:) Much love!

I would call vaccination a “preventative medicine”.. How about instead of forcing people to vaccinate their kids we force women to breastfeed their babies for the first year of life…oh wait.. We can’t do that? Why not? After all if we would have stuck with breastfeeding in the first place and natural immunity we would have virtually no infant deaths of “vaccine preventable diseases”… Hmm just a thought.. love you Megan.

Michelle.. Comparing breastfeeding with vaccinations is like comparing apples and oranges. Not every woman can breastfeed. Both my mom and my wife were those women, It wasn’t that they were incapable, they didn’t produce enough milk. Which was heart-breaking to my wife since she was an OB nurse and had taught literally hundreds of women how to breastfeed their own child..

Outside of being a cancer patient or having some other medical issue which already weakens their immune system there is no reason,,, no reason at all, why a child shouldn’t get vaccinated.

There was only one correct thing said on this entire page.. And that was to educate yourself. Don’t read only what agrees with your point, but also the other side..

When you do that you’ll find that the deaths and complications from the lack of immunizations far and away out-weight what may happen with vaccinations. You won’t get lasting heat and lung issues from getting the measles shots.. but you can get those from getting it in the wild.

You’d also find that it’s far better to have controlled exposure in the case of vaccines as opposed to pox parties..

Docferal,
I am sorry that your wife had such a hard time breastfeeding. As a mom I know exactly how hard that can be. It is true that there are down women that can not breastfeed. But did you know its estimated that it’s somewhere between 1 and 5 percent? Most of the time lack of breastfeeding has to do with lack of information. And we will just have to disagree that breastfeeding and vaccinating is apples and oranges. It is always interesting to me that people who don’t vaccinate are constantly being attacked for not having “educated ourselves” as if we take not vaccinating lightly. We (people who choose not to vaccinate) all have different reasons not to vaccinate. You can not put us in a box and tell us we are all the same. This is a choice I have made after studying it for 6 years! After my sister had seizures following her vaccinations as well as an extreme decline in her overall health directly following them. That’s when I started researching them. What’s right for my family may not be right for your family. I just pray that you dont start letting the government tell you what’s right for for family. That’s going to be scary.

You folks have to be kidding. Vaccination science is so simple a caveman can understand it. If you have phobias, are infected with conspiracy theories or what not, get help and get educated. There is coming a time, because of you junk science purveyors, that you will not be able to get away with not vaccinating your kids. Kids can’t bring peanut butter to school and you think you can bring communicable diseases? We will put a stop to your menacing nonsense

So nice to see you did not read this article. Don’t comment unless you read the whole article. Oh, was it too long for you Mr Scientist? I can tell you did not bother to fact check any of the references. you people sound like a broken record. its very amusing how arrogant you are to think that drug companies are the only ones who can do ”real science” and research. The only ”vaccine science” is the science coming from the drug companies themselves. You don’t see how ridiculous your nazi vaccine stance is? and that is only one of many reasons.

just to touch on that peanut allergy topic, there is peanut oil used as a carrier for the disease in one or some of the vaccinations. someone have a link?
If the vaccinations theory is that when the injection hits the blood stream it causes the body to fight against whatever it encounters to create antibodies, logic dictates that whatever is in that injection will be fought against and antibodies created………. to peanuts. does no one see that logical connection?
I wonder if there is a comparison of the rate of peanut allergy to that/those vaccination/s? would they ever release that data?

Thank you so much writing about all that you do. As a new Mom I agonized over this issue and ended up following my instincts, which turned out not to follow the norm on this one (non-vaccination). I am so fearful that I may never get the confidence to stand up and defend my convictions in a voice like you have done and that my son may suffer, not from a physical disease, but from the social disease this bullying and spreading of propaganda has become, or that someday our freedom to choose will be taken away. We have a bully epidemic and it doesn’t start with our children, it starts with us.
I look forward to your blogs as they are helping to guide me in finding the confidence and strength to stand by my choices and believe in my instincts. I do not think either side is right or wrong, but mainly parents should be able to make the choice whether to vaccinate or not. I don’t judge you for choosing to vaccinate. Why must you judge me? What works for one person’s body, may not for another. Why can’t we understand this?

No one is taking away your freedom to choose. I wish people would realize that freedom of choice DOES NOT equal freedom from consequences. If the choices you makes can endanger the lives of others, then frankly you can’t blame other people for judging you for those choices.

Yeah well there’s a debate about that, isn’t there? Either way, it most certainly is a choice. Many things put people at risk in this world. Drunk driving, for one, and yet we have not taken away people’s rights to drink (and, laws or not, drunk driving accidents still happen, therefore taking away the choice of another). Car accidents kill people so I guess we need to ban cars. I guarantee far more children die in car accidents than they will from the Measles. YES, it’s about choice. And it’s not so black and white as you would make it seem. here is why:

I am vaccinated, though long before they were doing the “cocktail” vaccinations. Both my kids are vaccinated … and I do believe there’s a lot of good in some of them. But as a fairly new grandmother to a precious 17 month old boy, we (as a family) are trying to battle through this issue of whether or not to risk vaccine harming my grand child. That probably sounds “paranoid” to you … but guess what?

We have a child IN our family who went through this exact scenario I have read described over and over. He was a beautifully vibrant, normal and communicative child until the age of 3. Literally 12 HOURS after his MMR shot, that child was GONE, forever, … vacant, distant, all normal responses gone, and would never be the same again. To this very day, he cannot speak or care for himself.

The grandmother of that child (my cousin), is a doctor herself, and went on a many years journey of research on this matter. While she does not believe the MMR vaccine directly causes autism, she has found, through her research, that it does trigger a reaction in some children that compromises the immune system.

Our family has a familial tendency for auto immune disorders.

Can you comprehend how scary that might be? This is not a nameless, faceless issue for us. This is a currently healthy, vibrant child we LOVE with all our hearts, directly related to another child who went through this very thing. Please find your sense of understanding that this is NOT so simple as you are suggesting.

And I’m pretty darn sure you’d feel the same. ANY good parent would. And that’s what this is about. On both sides. GOOD parents wanting to protect their children.

Yeah i can associate with you. I refuse to defend my choice anymore, the debates going online right now is ridiculous, especially in terms of their tactics. It’s so predictable: post a comment that the masses do not agree with, then get targeted and labeled, which then squashes conversation – which is their goal TO DISTRACT. It’s an aggressive campaign.

The FDA and CDC are corrupt. The level of toxicity the FDA deems safe is apalling.
I tell the trolls: “Follow the FDA/CDC? go ahead! I won’t stop you. If you consider CDC/FDA a shining icon of imperical truth regarding safety and efficacy? Be my guest. Thinning the herd……

I’m so glad you didn’t give up blogging about vaccines. I don’t have quite the guts to open up like you can, even though I feel the same way. It’s so nice to have your articles to read when I’m feeling alienated or bullied. I realize that even though I am outnumbered, I’m definitely not alone, and that is comforting. Thank you and keep up the good work!

Until there is REAL transparency and accountability with regards to vaccines, which currently there is no transparency and no accountability.. I will refuse to vaccinate my children. Until doctors have no incentive to pretend there aren’t massive issues with regards to reporting vaccine adverse events or getting compensation when there are catastrophic vaccine reactions.. Until unbiased and unrelated panels of experts are the ones testing the safety/efficacy of vaccines and NOT the pharmaceutical companies that have every reason to manipulate the studies particularly since they have almost NO accountability for the safety of the vaccines they put out so why not manipulate safety data.. I will refuse to vaccinate my children..

Who is responsible if I inject my child with the MMR and he has some sort of severe reaction that affects him neurologically for the rest of his life or causes brain damage etc? Who? The doctor that say didn’t care that he already had a fever of 99.9 and shouldn’t have been vaccinated at all ? No. The pharmaceutical company that created such a drug that is capable of such damage without putting clear enough warnings on it or that has been known to manipulate the safety data (and the number of times they’ve been caught is ridiculous but it’s just the tip of the ICE BERG!!)? No. The government that has let both get away with it? No. Who, then? A panel of people who have great motive to dismiss the claim, and do in fact dismiss most of the claims, and routinely under-compensate people for their suffering. That is not justice, transparency, or accountability!

WHEN did the vaccine schedule start increasing dramatically?? When the pharmaceutical companies and doctors were no longer responsible. Our country over-vaccinates on a *huge* level, and for me, it is all or nothing because the lies, the data manipulations, and the lack of accountability are all just too scary for me.

If it were to become “government mandated” even for home schooled children I would most likely move myself and my children to a different country.

Let me start by saying that I am an expecting mother who does not have a side (yet) on the issue, but has been reading a lot about it.
Here is my take from this article: The author is trying to make a valid point, but she is forgetting one major point. She does not live in isolation. She seems very concerned about her right as a parent being taken away and wondering “where the line should be draw”. What I think? Bottle vs formula? Your choice. Junk food vs raw food? Your choice. Alternative medicine vs conventional medicine? Your choice. These are all choices we have to make as parents. The thing is, these choices affect only you and your family. You alone will answer for your choices. You ask where the line should be. A line must be created at the moment your choice affects others. I can drink until I get drunk and sick. It is my choice. But as soon as I hop into my car and start driving, my choices are affecting others and most people would agree that it is wrong. Or if you want a kid example. Your child is free to eat as much peanut butter as he/she wants, but if there is another child at school who is severely allergic, that child’s health trump your choices. That is part of living in a community. There is where a line should be. The one argument I am searching for and can’t find (and that I have been hoping to find, but haven’t yet) is someone to show me that my child is better off running the risk of contracting a preventable disease than the possible side effects of the vaccine. Although this is true for some people I have not been able to find that to be true true for society as a whole. If you do have data one I would love to see it. But otherwise all this back and forth I have been reading lately is just a bunch of yelling that people (from both sides) are doing to try to justify theirs beliefs.

I commend you for doing some research on this topic, but would also say that If you are still not clear about the harm vaccines cause, you haven’t done enough research. Keep reading! And, the philosophy that we should look out for the community, not for our individual selves was also espoused by Adolph Hitler. “Societies needs comes before the individual’s needs.” Scary stuff.

Wow, equating vaccines designed to save people’s lives to Hitler. Impressive if your goal is just to spread fear, but a ridiculously inappropriate (and offensive) analogy. The harm caused by diseases greatly outweighs any harm caused by rare vaccine side-effects.

If you have a major concern about the health of others and how to be a good community member, there are many other very effective ways to stay healthy and prevent communicable disease without vaccines. It is a major proponent of our choice to not tamper with our children’s innate immune system development. We take active steps to build their immune system and strengthen their overall health and wellbeing. That way, instead of simply getting vaccinated (and actually interrupting their immune development and decreasing their abilities to fight off all infectious pathogens) they are “toughened” up so they can defend themselves against ALL pathogens. Just because we have vaccines for a few infectious pathogens doesn’t mean that people are safe from disease or even deadly bacteria and viruses. There are more than we can count that we know nothing about….promote overall health and wellness and you can feel confident you are doing better than most (and most vaccinate and then pay no attention to overall health and wellness…)

data suggest that the vaccine may be contributing to the observed rise in whooping cough incidence over the last decade by promoting B. parapertussis infection. Highlighting the extreme consideration that should be exercised in future vaccine development

“Let me start by saying that I am an expecting mother who does not have a side (yet) on the issue”
Obvious lie… because then you go on to say:
“Here is my take from this article: The author is trying to make a valid point, but she is forgetting one major point. She does not live in isolation. She seems very concerned about her right as a parent being taken away and wondering “where the line should be draw”. What I think? Bottle vs formula? Your choice. Junk food vs raw food? Your choice. Alternative medicine vs conventional medicine? Your choice. These are all choices we have to make as parents. The thing is, these choices affect only you and your family. You alone will answer for your choices. You ask where the line should be. A line must be created at the moment your choice affects others.”

Here’s another take: My child was vaccine injured. The thing about vaccine injury is that, while many parents have a concern, or an inkling that something bad “might happen”, you never really know until it has already happened. And the thing about vaccination is that when you’re given a vaccine, you’re absolutely exposed to the toxins, viruses (sometimes live), traces of DNA, etc. that are all contained in the vaccine. You’re automatically placing yourself into that “law of averages” in which you may or may not have a reaction. I think it was the FDA that ruled that vaccines are an “unavoidable danger” back in the 80’s when vaccine manufacturers were given immunity from vaccine damages. Then there are the illnesses, which you may or may not be exposed to, and if exposed, you may or may not develop the illness. And IF you develop the illness, you may or may not have a horrible reaction to that illness. Everyone my mom and dad knew growing up had all those childhood illnesses, and neither knew a single person that had a horrible reaction or suffered permanent damage from any of them. But they know a bunch of people who’ve had horrible reactions (some permanent) to vaccines.

Most of those on THIS side of the debate have either been vaccine injured, or have a loved one who has been vaccine injured. Where is the community support for us? Where is the community support when people are calling for us to be imprisoned for not wanting our children to be further harmed, or to protect the rest of our children from harm?

Sorry, but my children’s health trump your ASSertion that my children must be vaccinated to protect anyone else from a disease they may or may not ever be exposed to.

I used to work at a “big pharma” company involved in manufacturing the DTAP vaccine. Many strange things happened there that I was very uncomfortable with. Like several times I’d hear the executives joke “Screw the kids, we are making money!” I am not 100% sure but I believe there was a secret room where they actually were doing some sort of experiments on (babies???) and trying to “fine-tune” the vaccine chemicals where it wouldn’t hurt you right away just later so everyone would still want the vaccine because they fel safe but then later BOOM you get seizures and drooling and weird personality changes (autism????) and everyone says “Poor kid” instead of “damn vaccines!!!” A perfect racket. I had to be escorted out of there I was so livid over their evil chemical-pushing make-,money-at-all-costs ways. Mumps orchitis (swollen painful testicles from mumps virus leading to infertility or “hormone problems” yeah right) doesn’t scare me AT ALL because actually I lost my testicles in an accident 17 years ago.

This is nonsense. Calling for public health is being a bully now? People that choose to not vaccinate should be shunned. They not only deny science they put other people at risk. Most of us were vaccinated and are completely fine.

count my daughter in for one of those lifetime, auto-immune disorders. I will never vaccinate again. As far as taking care of the community – how about the fact that vaccines can spread the very diseases they are supposed to protect against? Vaccinated people shed!! So, if you want to “sue” the people responsible for spreading disease, how about we start with the vaccinated who shed and give the disease to those who you say are most at risk? http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/02/02/702199/10118172/en/Studies-Show-that-Vaccinated-Individuals-Spread-Disease.html In the much publicized Disney measles spread – it has not been proven that the measles was a wild case. It could have all started with someone who was vaccinated.

i do not join the debate : vacinate or not .. that is a personal choice.. but i am a 43 year old woman who has had measels 3 times .. chicken pox 5 times and shingles twice as well as mumps and scarelet fever. I do not retain the antibodies to defend against normal childhood viruses,.. i have had vacinations and immunal globulan on 2 different occasions to try and defend myself from these issues… to date i still carry no immunities to any of the above noted viruses .. so it may not matter if you vaccinate your child or not .. i am going to contract them either way from soneone who had/has them.. there are many of us in society who can not defend ourselves against these .. but i must say it is easier to live knowing that there is less chance of contracting these if others have been vaccinated and that there are fewer people who may be carrying a threat to me.. i have missed months of work due to this problem … an adult contracting any of the above viruses is very serious and very painful.. but i still sit on the fence .. just keep in mind it not just you and your child at risk .. i have NO defence .. last time i contracted was 6 months ago with a good dose of scarlet fever .. FYI .. vaccinations are not there to protect just u or your child but others like me as well .. i get the whole debate issue but please keep in mind its not a long past dead viurs we are talking about ie polio .. its still present today .. and what may not hurt you may kill me !!!

You do realize that there is no vaccine for scarlet fever right? So that really has nothing to do with this discussion. I am sorry your immune system seems to not function properly. But that doesn’t mean that any of us have less of a right to make our own medical decisions than you do. There are far more un- and under- vaccinated adults that children.

so we are supposed to have a medical procedure that DOES have risks (because if it didn’t the department of health and human services wouldn’t have an entire compensation program for people injured by them!!!) to lower the very small chance that someone catches something that we may never even contract in the first place? It’s people with that kind of unbalanced thinking based on zero real info and all media induced fear that are the NUTS.

So, what you’re saying is that you are perfectly OK with the responsibility for protecting YOUR health being shouldered by small children?

I was told that the chances of my child developing an autoimmune disease as a result of vaccination were slim and none, even though I have a family history of autoimmune disease. My son developed one of the autoimmune diseases listed on the MMRII vaccine manufacturer insert about a week after he was “immunized”. The autoimmune injury he had is called imunothrombocytopenic purura, and it causes your immune system to destroy your blood platelets faster than your body can produce them. Had he taken what would otherwise have been a minor fall and bumped his head, he could have died from brain hemorrhage.

So, while I do feel for your condition, I’m not willing to further trade my son’s immune health to protect others. Call me selfish, but I’m responsible for my child’s health before all others.

One thing that many of the anti-choice people fail to realize is that most of those on this side of the debate are here because we or someone close to us has already suffered an injury. Some of us are concerned because of family medical history and the possibility of a genetic predisposition to these types of adverse reactions.

Another thing that YOU should be concerned about is that people with compromised immune systems are told by their physicians (or are supposed to be) to avoid individuals that have recently been vaccinated with a live virus vaccine. This is because those vaccines can shed for a month or more, potentially making those individuals contagious. You could catch measles from someone recently vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, or chicken pox or shingles from someone recently vaccinated with a varicella vaccine. Something worth keeping in mind. If you don’t believe that, read the manufacturer inserts that go with each of the live virus vaccines. It says that the recently vaccinated should avoid individuals that are immune compromised.

If you want to delay vaccination in your child that is your prerogative. However they may not thank you for it in the long run when they actually catch one of the diseases. My parents chose not to vaccinate our family and we had many friends who chose not to vaccinate. We had an epidemic of pertussis sweep through our “non vaccinated community” when I was about 13. I had friends coughing up blood with broken ribs, I knew a family who had an infant near death in ICU with a collapsed lung. I coughed for six months every night sometimes so hard I threw up my food. I still have issues in my lungs to this day. These diseases are serious. I still have many friends who chose not to vaccinate, I do not devalue them or their opinions, however my kids are vaccinated. I have heard the argument that vaccines are not really that effective but when pertussis went through again about a year ago my son was the one not hacking his guts out. People get angry and say horrible things when they want to protect their kids it is very sad, but you have to realize these diseases are serious.

You said ‘We had an epidemic of pertussis sweep through our “non vaccinated community” when I was about 13.’ I’m curious why you used quotes around the term “non vaccinated community”? When was this? What do you consider an epidemic? I’m wondering why an epidemic of pertussis wouldn’t have gotten national attention, like the Disney measles ‘epidemic’.

Between 2006-2007 there were an average of 60 cases per year. The data you use here is after the “anti-vaxer” movement, so it’s skewed. The real issue is herd immunity, which prevents a more serious outbreak. Luckily for you, enough people (83-85%) vaccinate to offset this mind set.

I thank you for such a WONDERFUL, AMAZING, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT article that says everything I, and I’m sure many others, are dying to say to everyone being so obsessed with this Disney measle crap.
I couldn’t thank you enough for saying my exact thoughts, my exact opinions, my exact knowledge and experience, so humble and collected, which I’ve been biting my tongue in fear of not being able to.
Write on! Will be following. Two thumbs up.

Huge sigh of relief!!!!! I have been absolutely exhausted today seeing all the hatred and venom spewing out of pro-Vaxxer mouths on facebook. It is beyond me that most of America wants the government to legally control our bodies and our children’s (which they pretty much already do). And it blows my mind that no one can even see that medicine is continually evolving and what was considered safe 20, 30, 40 years ago is generally considered harmful now, and in the future, the same will be true for practices now. We should be able to have the freedom to refuse medical practices, especially if they are not researched properly- like not comparing vaccinated to unvaccinated children. God knows in 20 years what the protocol will be and what will come out of the shadows of today’s practices. so tired of being crucified for critically thinking. It’s independent thinkers who have always found better medical practices anyway. Not followers and people who just regurgitate what others have taught them. If everyone just followed the pack we would still believe in having humours and needing to cut people open and drain their blood to make them healthy…

I think it’s a very aggressive campaign and it’s ramping even harder now. Legislative intiatives to eliminate exemptions, and proposals to force vaccinate not only children now, but adults and potentially high school and college age kids. wtf? I can’t help but questions how much money these representatives and doctors are mouthpieces for the vaccine industry. Follow the money….that is one of the best ways to see why people are promoting this so heavily.

Just another thought: The Ebola vaccine is being manufactured (ironically funded by Gates and Monsanto). The media is using scare tactics, to get the public into a mod mentality. The way people get so swayed by public media is mind boggling to me. How can anyone in today’s world JUST use the television as their source of information?

Think about ‘shedding’, if the parents run to get their kids vaccinated with this newest Ebola vaccine, this could very well cause a pandemic.

Holy cow! This is awesome! I’m soooo keeping this article in my backpocket! This was just what I needed. It’s getting ugly out there. So much hate coming from the pro-vaxxers. And the funny thing is that a great number of them accuse us “disinformation activists” of being selfish and uneducated when they couldn’t be any more inaccurate. Thanks for this.

If this is truly about your decision, why do you need to argue so vehemently on the internet about it ? That is evidence that this isn’t about a decision so much as an agenda, and we all know that the science doesn’t back your agenda.

Why not just say nothing? Why not just avoid vaccination and remain quiet? Why do you feel the need to engage in arguments on the internet with no ability to back up your opinion with fact ?

What do you think exactly motivates my “agenda?” Money? Politics? No, that would be the CDC. What do you think is going to happen if parents just “remain quiet?” I will tell you, we will lose our parental RIGHT to a vaccine exemption and more children will continue to be harmed as a result of vaccines. Finally, why would I not have the right to speak openly about this topic…because I take a “respectful” stance you don’t agree with? This is a blog, not a medical journal, but you are welcome to read any of my well-referenced posts via the “vaccines” tab above.

Thankyou Belinda for this post. After a debate with a particularly narcasissistic pro vaccine commentator yesterday I stepped out when he called me antisocial for not vaccinating my kids and endangering others. I always withhold judgment of parents that do vaccinate as I was one once and remember well the confusion of all the info or lack of and my naievity in trusting without question the medical professionals. I kept trying to make the point that we need to respect each others opinions on the matter as we will all come out of that web with a different conclusion but he wanted to aparantly play god by possibly saving a child’s life arguing with me?! Boy, I held so much back as this was on the wall of a mum that had vaccinated that had began this post with an ill informed joke of an article on unworthy about how D r Wakefield is still harming children because of his research 16 years ago. Anyway blah blah blah, we have all been there, verbally attacked, called the loon, the conspiracy theorist etc etc so I won’t elaborate on his patronising and dismissive assumptions and comments. But yesterday for the first time I felt sad. Sad that humans treat each other the way they do when they just don’t get or refuse to even hear what you are saying if it’s different to what they know. I felt sad for all those families that are suffering from vaccine damage being dismissed as loons just looking for someone to blame. I felt sad about all the hatred and so dismayed. Then I get to read your article and I just want to say THANKYOU. You have helped restore some faith in people today. And faith in the agenda of truth and nurturing souls. Thank goodness. Xxx

You’re right, thanks to huge changes in economics and sanitary living conditions like water treatment plant, sewage treatment plants, flushing toilets, running water, understanding better food handling/storage and a careful quarantine program I’ve never had smallpox. It’s interesting you’d bring smallpox up though, it was thanks to mandatory smallpox programs in the UK resulting in huge spikes in smallpox outbreaks and deaths that the first conscientious objector laws against vaccinations were introduced back in Queen Victoria’s time. Statistics from the town of Leicester show us that following conscientious objector laws being introduced the death rates and incidence rates once again plummeted, as they had done before mandatory vaccination laws were introduced.

I have several degrees that required proficiency in both research and writing. One thing we learned is never to assume something as fact regardless of the webste it comes from. However, you’ll find that for a blog, my articles are quite well-referenced as you’ll see when you click on one of the many hyperlinks.

dot gov = reputable site? That’s a laugh, but thanks for demonstrating that people are brainwashed to believe these things at university. Don’t bother looking at the science, the funding and the methodology and whether it supports the conclusions, as long as it’s on a dot gov website it’s good. Blolololololol, you can’t make this stuff up.

Once again alot of the links and articles or so called evidence people are using against vaccinations is from .Com or .Org non reptuable websites rather then .edu or .Gov reputable websites. Stats and facts need to come from trustworthy sources to be taken in to consideration or to be considered as educating parents. Im all for pro-choice but theres strong reputable evidence supporting the use of vaccinations and herd immunity out there!! There is no evidence base linking vacines things such as “autism or leukaemia”. Its all propaganda. People are thinking they are becoming more educated about vaccinations but ask yourself where is this information coming from? Is it reputable? Wheres the actual evidence to support these claims? And i mean proper evidence not. Com or. Org websites which are biased sources facilitating theres own purposes

Just because something is “.Gov” or “.edu” doesn’t mean it’s a reputable. In addition, the article you keep trying to post in the comments is from a “.com” website. Did you notice that? You’ll also find that 99% of my hyperlinks are from websites that would meet your specifications. Please read them.

There is no evidence to CLEAR vaccines from playing a role in ASDs. You cannot compare ASD rates between children getting 44 doses of 14 vaccines and those getting 46 doses of 15 vaccines (Danish MMR study) and say, “vaccines play no role in ASDs”.

You need to compare FULLY vaccinated children with FULLY unvaccinated children. If you think that study has been done, please give me the PMID for it. I know it hasn’t been.

Thanks for writing this article and making me feel like I’m not crazy. I hate the whole thought of vaccinations, but my family and friends always says what’s the big deal, their kids have gone through it and they are all healthy and fine. Unfortunately I had to vaccinate my 4 year old or he wouldn’t be able to go to school. I hated every minute of it, not just the pain of getting the shot for him but the unknown substances being put into his body and I made the choice for him, he doesn’t get that choice, knowing that I his mother could be potentially harming him for the rest of his life, it really just kills me inside. The healthcare providers look at you like your crazy too. They don’t like it when you ask questions, even when I question them about antibiotics, they get all riled up. I’m sitting here now my precious son who had 3 shots today and was perfectly fine when we went to the dr this am but now has a 102 temp and can’t bend either leg because that’s where the shots were given. Deep down I knew I didn’t want him to get these shots, but I feel like the choice isn’t even mine, I guess I have to follow the herd.

What state are you in? If it’s not Mississippi or West Virginia then at the very least you can get a religious exemption based on the sanctity of life and being against human fetal cells being used in vaccines. The following vaccines routinely given were made using human fetal cells from two aborted fetuses:

Current Vaccines Developed Using Human Cell Strains

Two main human cell strains have been used to develop currently available vaccines, in each case with the original fetal cells in question obtained in the 1960s. The WI-38 cell strain was developed in 1961 in the United States, and the MRC-5 cell strain (also started with fetal lung cells) was developed in 1965 in the United Kingdom. No new or additional fetal cells are required in order to sustain the two cell strains.

The vaccines below were developed using either the WI-38 or the MRC-5 cell strains.

Hepatitis A vaccines [VAQTA/Merck, Havrix/GlaxoSmithKline, and part of Twinrix/GlaxoSmithKline]
Rubella vaccine [MERUVAX II/Merck, part of MMR II/Merck, and ProQuad/Merck]
Varicella (chickenpox) vaccine [Varivax/Merck, and part of ProQuad/Merck]
Zoster (shingles) vaccine [Zostavax/Merck]

It’s all chatter until it’s your child with a lifelong brain injury from vaccines, or you are the woman left to clean up the mess the FDA, CDC, big pharma, and the corrupt government has lied to you about. The one they now attempt to make you out to be the crazy mother just looking to blame anyone and everyone when it was probably YOUR fault.

You claim there is currently an outbreak of polio in Syria that is becoming more difficult by the day to reign in, that starts just like any other springtime GI bug. A little fever, nausea/vomiting/diarrhea…WELL NEWS FLASH…YOU GET ALL THAT AND A CRAP LOAD MORE WITH AUTISM. I’m not sure what you THINK autism consists of but obviously you have been misinformed. Our children missing out on soccer, dancing, etc. is the LEAST of our worries in life, Faith. If that was all I had to worry about my child missing out on in life…I would be thanking my lucky stars!!!

Faith, you said “If you are going to try to promote this kind of belief, I recommend you put yourself in the role of an Infectious Disease specialist for a while as you write an opposing side to your statement”. Well, I would suggest you put yourself in the role of a mother who watched her perfectly healthy and happy baby who deteriorated in a downward spiral in a matter of days following his/her vaccines…NEVER to recover. The same mother who has watched her child suffer in pain daily for DECADES. The same mother who has selflessly given up her own life, her own marriage, etc. to move her child across the country to make sure her child got the best medical care and best schooling available at the time. The same mother who then had health problems of her own and still raises that adult child alone even after she herself has gone through spine surgeries and brain surgeries. The mother who will do it all alone until the day she dies because nobody else in their right mind would get involved in that situation. Why, Faith? All because that mother put trust into her child’s doctors, her government, etc…and all they did was use her baby as the equivalent of a lab monkey…and once damaged…sent them home and swept them under the rug. So with all due respect, shove your self righteous attitude up your behind. Just because your family was lucky enough not to be devastated by vaccines does not mean many many others were not. How DARE you sit there and even ATTEMPT to condemn another parent for doing what is best for THEIR child. Don’t you dare ask me to put my child’s health and life on the line anymore than he already has to save your loved ones when you know darn well you would not sacrifice one of yours to save mine. You’re a hypocrite!!

Now, Faith…onto your comment, “Lastly, have you made it clear to anyone caring for your children if something were to happen to you and your spouse? If your late teen child still was not immunized and you passed away, that child never entered college (god forbid), and somehow was exposed to meningococcal meningitis (nearly 100% fatal), then what has all of this accomplished? I’m not propagating hate here, I’m trying to introduce a little fear. The balance of the population on the planet has always been controlled by mother nature, in the end – that’s the thought I would like people to walk away with. Some may think they are rolling the dice here, and if so, I’m putting my money for the number of survivors left in the vaccinated population.”
To answer that…most of us parents of autistic children are raising our children as adults while many children who have gotten chicken pox, measles, mumps, rubella, flu, pertussis, etc. went on to lead normal lives after being sick for 2-3 weeks of their lives. We have had to think about this very thing every single day of our lives. Again, I’m not real sure what you THINK autism is but you are obviously misinformed. Many of us have had to make wills and plans as to who will be caring for our children if something should happen to us before they die. If you will please make note…you see a rising number of stories where parents of autistic children are killing themselves and their children because they are so desperate and do not see another way out. Faith, could you please tell me how often you hear or read of those stories where parents of children with measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, pertussis, flu, etc. are occurring? I personally have not heard of or read a single one in the media.

So while you sit there condemning those of us who either do not vaccinate or chose to stop vaccinating…know WHY they have chosen not to and understand there are consequences on the other side of the fence that are equally as devastating. You look like an uneducated fool acting as if there are no consequences to vaccinating and children are never harmed. I have been researching BOTH sides of the controversy for over 18 years now. When my son was born autism rates were approximately 1:10,000. Now…1:68. The current rate of developmental disabilities in children is 1:6. If that doesn’t scare you…IT SHOULD. There is a reason for that, Faith…and it sure isn’t because people are wising up to the lies. Even the chief of the CDC admits a link now, and yet there are STILL lemmings running around screaming praises and pumping their children full of these neurotoxins. If you want to chance harming your children, knock yourself out. But stop trying to guilt trip others into poisoning their children simply because you refuse to do proper research and you would rather take the word of a doctor (who, by the way, is getting a kick back off every vaccine he/she pushes. The same doctor who spent a MAXIMUM of six hours on vaccines in med school – scary).

There is absolutely no credible study that shows an association between autism and vaccinations. But you know that already and willfully choose to ignore it and more dangerously advocate that others do the same. I am sympathetic if you do indeed have an autistic child, that can be very challenging as a parent. However, a vaccine did not cause your child’s autism.

There is no study comparing autism rates between fully vaccinated and fully unvaccinated children so telling someone that a vaccine didn’t cause their child’s autism is an opinion not supported by science.

Thank you for this. I was recently subject to some pretty intense hatred on FB because of my stance on vaccines. 200 strangers made it their business to call for my children to be taken away from me, for me to be sterilized, and for me to spend my life in prison. I was called dozens of horrible names. I couldn’t believe the hatred being spewed.

Yes, people do engage hate in debates like this. But, this is not the issue. The data is very clear in showing that when vaccination numbers are up, these diseases are contained. When the numbers go down, the diseases spread ~> and, yes, some end up killing.
So, go ahead and make your personal choice that you are convinced is right for you and your children. But, you will be proven wrong and, you will be one of the ones responsible for causing these diseases to rise, whether or not you believe that is true.
You can find all kinds of evidence to support what you want to believe. But, can you change your beliefs when it becomes clear that they are blatantly wrong? Probably not, if you are so busy finding evidence to support your beliefs rather than forming an educated perspective after having examined the evidence and data.

Clearwater, you assume that I’ve always been against vaccines. I assure you that is not the case. It’s through educating myself that I have developed this position. I wonder though if you would take your own advice or if there’s anything that would cause you to at least question your stance.

The reason numbers are down when vaccinations are up is because the statistics are flawed. We hear stories about unvaccinated children getting sick, but not the vaccinated ones because the pharmaceutical companies are sheilded from all liability or harm caused by vaccines. Vaccines are a billion dollar industry and doctors get kickbacks to push them. Megan has taken an educated stance and that’s why she wrote the article. The point was about being bullied and the research she shared was to inform the people doing the bullying that she chose her position for a reason. Do you like being told how to parent? It’s not enjoyable being ridiculed for trying to be a good mom.

The CDC is in charge of vaccine uptake, they are not an unbiased source of information.

If you want to understand the history of vaccines then choose any disease and look at the death rates at every 10 year point in the 100 years leading up to the vaccine for that disease being introduced and 10 years after. Does the vaccine play any role at all? If you reach the only sane and logical conclusion that they do not, why do we keep being told how many “millions of children” will be dying were we to stop vaccinating in developed countries?

This is the kind of debate that the person on either side thinks they are absolutely correct. The ones that are easily swayed are probably stupid and haven’t looked into vaccines at all. I personally vaccine my children, but I’m guessing our vaccines/vaccination schedule is different to Americas. Does the government pay for your vaccines? It does seem to be a bigger issue/debate in America compared to else where.

The reason it’s a bigger issue here is because most countries aren’t as tyrannical about removing philosophical exemptions. Australia is the closest. Take Canada for example, philosophical exemptions are allowed in every single Territory and Province. Are rates of disease worse there than in USA? Not at all. There is no reason to infringe upon people’s health freedoms like happens in the USA but there is also nowhere else in the world where government regulatory agencies and politicians are such puppets for the pharmaceutical industry.

No country has quite as intense a vaccination schedule as the US. No country tries to eliminate philosophical exemptions to vaccination as continuously as the US does. No country’s mainstream media parrots lies like “Vaccines don’t cause autism” and “vaccines are perfectly safe” like the US does. It’s no wonder the opposing side is no more fierce than they are in the US.

Clearwater – so people are supposed to subject their perfectly healthy kids to the risks that do come with vaccines, and there are many and they are all reported and compensated for by the department of health and human services, to possibly and theoretically ”protect” another? This thinking is so beyond flawed and its unethical on top of that. Sorry Vax Nazis.

It surely is a hate debate! The most important battles are the hardest ones. Thank you for posting as many moms and health professionals as myself need to network with others who are like minded and know the truth. The truth will set you free! The truth will set our little ones free. Our precious little ones who never asked to be injected with this evil and awful stuff.

Sure there are a lot of vaccines that may be superfluous and unnecessary since big pharma loves their cash flow, but to just strait up not vaccinate you children against diseases that ARE affecting huge populations of (unvaccinated) children on the account of…what? Faith? No, it’s Pride. You are irresponsible if you believe your children will magically be prevented from carrying of spreading disease. If you have girls you are not doing them any favors not giving them an HPV vaccine. You are allowing the spread of diseases amongst your own children and costing the state and everyone else who pays taxes to pay for the treatment of you children when they could be well taken care of. if you don’t believe rotavirus exist, which just about 90% of children get by age 5 you are living in a fantasy land full of sick children. There has been in increase in cases of whooping cough and measles since 2010. Of course vaccines have helped ebb the spread of disease. We as a species live 40 years longer than we did sixty years ago. This is not because God has decided we deserve to hang out in his garden longer, its because we have medicine. People hate seeing sick children. Maybe that’s why this is a debate about hate.

Do more reading and research, Eroc. Vaccines do not prevent disease; often they spread disease. They corrupt the immune and nervous system. Do you really think that this is God’s plan for us to “live in His garden”?

What country are you in? Here in the US, the taxpayers *aren’t* paying for everyone’s health care. I, for example, have mine through my husband’s work. Some people are on public healthcare, but not most.

And, here, at least, there is not a 90% rate of rotavirus among the unvaccinated. The rate here isn’t even at 50%, or 30… The increase in Whooping Cough and Measles is higher among the vaccinated. I’m not sure where you’re getting your numbers from, but they’re bogus. It’s called clean water.

And, yes, people do hate seeing sick children. I was absolutely devastated to see my child sick in the hospital with an autoimmune disease that could have been prevented by NOT allowing him to get the MMR vaccine.

Both my parents had all the diseases (measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, chickenpox, etc.) that everyone is screaming about. All of their siblings and childhood friends also got those diseases. They come from different parts of the country, and yet neither of them knew of, nor even heard of any cases of horrible reactions or deaths from any of those diseases when they were growing up. But they both know a lot of people who’ve had bad reactions to the vaccines.

same here – I had measles and mumps as a child, and so did almost everyone I knew. I NEVER heard of any deaths or complications from them. And also almost unheard of was autism, asthma, food allergies, learning disabilities, obesity, childhood type 2 diabetes, etc etc, which are now rampant. Asthma was that one kid who couldn’t participate in PE. Obesity was that one kid who was so much larger than everyone else. However, including my own child who has a lifetime disorder from vaccines, I know many kids who have all of those illnesses I listed, as well as many that have severe life disorders from vaccines. They are a DRUG. And we should ALWAYS have truly informed consent and ALWAYS have a choice. ALWAYS. I so desperately wish I could go back and undo the vaccine that harmed my daughter.

That clean water nonsense doesn’t fly… In 1918 when polio broke out there was plenty of clean water… As a matter of fact it was so clean the polio was taken out of the water and it caused an outbreak.. Mothers who once had the immunity and all who drank it lost it and people got sick…

Anthony…source? I have living relatives who were alive in this country during 1918 and this is not the account they gave. The Water Pollution Control Act did not come into existence until 1948 and the Water Quality Act wasn’t implemented until 1965 in which states had to develop water quality standards and more effective adaptions weren’t initiated until the 1970s and 80s. Not sure why these pieces of legislation were needed if we had such clean water….

I have no idea what numbers you are talking about, my post doesn’t include any numbers. What meds are you on? The ones Big Pharma is feeding you? I currently take zero prescriptions, btw, which unfortunately does not seem to be the norm today.

We actually are not living much longer than in decades past. Over the past couple of hundred years, in the West, anyway, what is making the difference in lifespan is the reduction in infant mortality. Nutrition and sanitation are the biggest players here.

If statistics were adjusted, say by starting the count at 5 years old, or even one year old, instead of at birth, the average age at death would hardly be different now than it was 200 years ago.

Vaccines haven’t been a big player in this.

If you look at first world countries, deaths from “preventable illnesses” (which is newspeak for illnesses that can theoretically be vaccinated away…not illnesses prevented by good nutrition and sanitation) are close to non-existent, even when outbreaks occur. The story in the third world where nutrition and sanitation are not priorities is very very different.

Here’s my problem — you say “Every parent should have autonomy over their child’s healthcare”. NO! Absolutely not. Children lack their own legal voice. There are many, many, many parents that are flat-out dangerous and have no business raising children, let alone e allowed to make medical decisions for them. As a society, we have a responsibility to children to sometimes protect them from their own parents. Take for example a child who gets brutally beaten as a form of punishment. While this example is extreme, it certainly fairly disputes your statement that “every parent should have autonomy” to do anything. In fact, I know of one parent who withholds medical care from his kids as a form of punishment. Do we give him autonomy?

I’m not saying that not vaccinating necessarily rises to this level. However, this certainly explains the very emotional response you perceive from those who are against “anti-vaxxers”. If you are putting children in harm’s way then you certainly have no right to ask people to just be nice to you or to even respect your decision.

Personally, I agree that not vaccinating your children is de facto abuse. I think it’s irresponsible and is bad parenting. I won’t beat you over the head with it primarily because I know you won’t listen. Thus, my recourse is with our government, which I hope will put a stop to any parent who refuses to vaccinate their child.

The legal voice for a child is their parent, not the government. A proper diet prevents disease and a poor diet can make a child more susceptible to disease – Is it child abuse to feed your kids McDonald’s every day? How would you feel if the government mandated a raw foods diet and told you what you could and could not feed your kids? Doctors used to feel that milk powder and karo syrup was superior to breast milk…what if they had mandated that? Today breast milk is best, what if they mandated that and forced women to breastfeed their babies for 2 years to fall in line with WHO guidelines? Should the government dictate all medical decisions? Where do you draw the line?

And what about adults, in order to ensure herd immunity adults would be required to be vaccinated with boosters every few years for essentially all vaccines – how does your logic apply to them? Do they not have autonomy over their bodies and are they not qualified to exercise their legal voice? Since vaccination is not synonymous with immunization, how would you know if the vaccine worked? Would you recommend having daily/weekly/monthly/yearly titers checked? How much is too much when it comes to heavy metals and harmful additives?

As was established above, essentially all of the population can be vaccinated (save a select few who are so immunocompromised they can’t be around the vaccinated either). Is it ethical to require all people to be vaccinated with a biologically invasive vaccine that is neither clinically or research effective? One might argue that this too is child abuse. Who is going to compensate the parents for the adverse reactions of a vaccine…because there are adverse reactions. I think this is an emotionally charged issue on the anti-vaccine side because vaccines carry great risk and little (if any) perceived benefits. How do you know if a mandatory mass vaccination program is safe? There’s no comprehensive study done in the United States comparing the health of the unvaccinated with the vaccinated?

Vaccination is a personal choice that should and must be left up to every parent. These are children who are loved, healthy, with good homes, and educated parents; to compare them to children who are physically beaten, brutally punished, and emotionally abused seems a bit extreme don’t you think?

You can’t rely on “what if’s” …. What if you got hit by a car? What if a plane crashed into your house? What if someone broke-in to your house and you were sleeping? What if gorilla got loose at the zoo when you were there…? What if a meteor hit the Earth tomorrow..?

Just so I understand correctly, you’re actually advocating FOR vaccines by claiming that “what if” is a false argument? The *entire* basis of vaccination is “what if” with absolutely no liability for failure or guarantee of effectiveness. Quite the opposite, the law protects even the incompetent from the repercussions of violating their oaths to do no harm.

Doctors are now using this kind of logic to take children away, in a gross misuse of your philosophy. See Justina Pelletier case.
Conversely, will the government accept any culpability in the rise of autism, adverse events?

NO. If a parent is “brutally beating” a child or neglecting a child to the point of it being abuse you take away the autonomy of that parent until they can be schooled in the proper way to raise a child or until they decide it’s not worth the fight and the child is placed with a responsible family.
You do not however, punish every parent out there by taking away all parents’ autonomy because of few screwed up head cases. That is illogical and irresponsible.
Your argument is flawed.

I will add one more link to the discussion. I have seen much brouhaha about the OSU outbreak. As it spread, this information came out. 27/28 mumps sufferers on that campus were vaccinated. That is a 96.4% vaccination rate for those that caught it. For those who go on and on about herd immunity, as I linked on the Fordham case, that was 12/12 vaccination rate. At what point do you ask yourself if “herd immunity” is a real thing? I vaccinated my kids until my son’s reaction to the MMR, so I am not an anti-vaxxer. Like others have stated, I am a pro-choicer on this issue. It is the parents right to determine what is the best for their own kids. I find it interesting that a few commenters here have said you don’t have the right to put their kids in danger by not vaccinating your children, but they seem to be ok with the idea of you putting your kids in danger of the vaccine because they deem the risk small enough to be dismissed. What hubris.

Great article. I think many people- older persons, those with no children do not realize just how complex the issue is now. I mean, they probably just think ‘get the damned measles shot.’ The reality is much more complex, though. Parents must get 5 in 1’s now that have more problems associated with them and just too many shots for “dire, dreaded” diseases. I swear they are adding new ones to the schedule weekly. Parents are really at a breaking point on this issue, I think. I think people are very leery of the fact that the epidemiological studies are biased, poor (Cochrane) and there is a real lack of physiological studies that back vaccine safety.
Oh, and why can’t they explain what is causing autism- something that is many, many times more common now than polio?

Polio and small pox used to kill many people. Vaccines are a medical breakthrough that has eradicated many diseases. Do you really think your children would have been safer in 1900? Check the child death rate back then against today in regard to today’s preventable diseases. What parent would want to subject their child to polio?

Polio Vaccine did not stop Polio. The polio death rate was decreasing on its own before the vaccine was introduced, and there is no credible scientific evidence that the vaccine caused polio to disappear. Cases of polio increased after mass inoculations. The US and Europe Polio rates had abated to 47% & 55% respectively before the Salk Vaccine. Europe never purchased the Polio Vaccine and Polio abated completely on its own. Distribution and administration of the Polio vaccine in the US caused Polio cases to rise 700%.

I called the Polio Vaccine the Salk Vaccine because it was not the first. There has been more than one type of polio vaccine through its history, due to the fact that earlier versions were found to be ineffective and harmful.

MV Polio Strain Escape From Rockefeller Labs
The first real spike (1916) in polio occurred in a New York City population in the same area where Rockefeller Labs conducted work in creating polio-virus. This conclusion was documented by Wyatt
et al in “The Open Vaccine Journal” stating;

However it is a remarkable coincidence that a unique neurotropic strain of poliovirus was developed a few miles from an epidemic caused by a uniquely pathogenic strain of the virus. My theory would not be proved even if it could be shown that a Rockefeller worker had lived in Brooklyn. Nevertheless such an extraordinary epidemic requires an extraordinary explanation: it is the only suggestion to be offered so far. Correct or not, it provides a powerful message for everyone who works with pathogens (Wyatt, H., 2011).

Polio Vaccine
The polio vaccines marketed to the population were called Salk and Sabin. Albert Sabin created the oral polio vaccine (OPV) in 1957, which contained the live polio virus and was licensed in 1961. Jonas Salk created the inactivated polio virus vaccine (IPV), which was made with the killed-virus and licensed in 1955. Actually Jonas Salk didn’t created the first Polio Vaccine. The actual developer was a Doctor named: Dr. Bennett.

Dr. Jonas Salk never developed his vaccine at all. He had the idea, but did none of the work. Dr. Bennett, who used to work with Dr. Jo Smadel at Walter Reed, left there because Jonas Salk, who was a Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, offered him a job of joining him in making the first successful polio vaccine. His idea for the vaccine was simple but extreme; to just grow the virus, and inactivate it with formalin. This by the way was the same idea that he had for the AIDS vaccine. Dr Bennett did all the work and the theory had a fatal flaw. Formalin doesn’t inactivate in a straight line, but Salk thought it did. Right from the start, the media, the politicians, etc, acclaimed Salk as the Savoir and he took all the credit for work he had never done. He refused to acknowledge that Dr. Bennett had made the vaccine, not him, which led to a nasty feud and Dr. Bennett committed suicide. You won’t find much on Dr. Bennett in the Polio historical literature. Not even on Wikipedia. You know why? Because the pharmaceutical Industry wrote the History of Poliomyelitis. Basically, the History of Polio was written by The Rockefeller Foundation who started the AMA and most medical schools in this country.

These are the people involved in the development of the Polio Vaccine: William Welch, Simon Flexner, Karl Landsteiner, Tom Rivers, Thomas Francis, Henry Kumm, Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin, Hilary Koprowski, and Oveta Culp Hobby were all tied to the Rockefellers in some fashion. You see the vaccine wasn’t about health intervention or prevention-it was and still is about money and social control.

In 1955 Time Magazine wrote of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis blowing the danger of polio out of proportion. But why would anyone blow out of proportion something as serious as polio? Here is a snippet from that article:
“All week the air was full of brickbats for Secretary Hobby and her department, although President Eisenhower defended her (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS). In retrospect, a good deal of the blame for the vaccine snafu also went to the National foundation (for Infantile Paralysis), which, with years of publicity, had built up the danger of polio out of all proportion to its actual incidence, and had rushed into vaccinations this year with patently insufficient preparation.” emphasis added

Vaccine was created after much publicity in 1955. Salk vaccinations began in the U.S. in April 1955. Only two months into the Salk campaign, the U.S. Public Health Service, on June 23, 1955, announced that there had been 168 confirmed cases of poliomyelitis among the vaccinated with six deaths.

The News Chronicle of May 6, 1955, reported:
“The interval between the inoculation and the first sign of paralysis ranged from 5 to 20 days and in a large proportion of cases it started in the limb on which the injection had been given. Another feature of the tragedy was that the numbers developing polio were far greater than would have been expected had no inoculations been given. In fact, in the state of Idaho, according to a statement by Dr. Carl Eklund, one of the government’s chief virus authorities, polio struck only vaccinated children in areas where there had been no cases of polio since the preceding autumn; in 9 out of 10 cases the paralysis occurred in the arms in which the vaccine had been injected.”

In June, 1955, James C. Spaulding, a staff writer for the Milwaukee Journal covered an American Medical Association convention. Here is what Spaulding learned and reported on June 19, 1955:
“A policy of secrecy and deception has been followed by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and the U.S. Public Health Service in the polio vaccine programs. As a result the nation’s physicians were prevented from learning vital information about the trouble in making and testing Salk vaccine… The secrecy and deception started before the field trials.”

In 1954 with the Francis Field Trials they discovered large numbers of children contracted polio after receiving the vaccine. Instead of removing the vaccine from the market, they decided to exclude from the statistics all cases of polio that occurred within 30 days after vaccination on the pretext that such cases were “pre-existing”. The trial was part medical and part public relations. Word was beginning to get out that the Polio Vaccine was causing Polio.

The 1955, Journal of American Statistical Assn 50: 1005- 1013, stated of the Francis report: 59% of the trial was worthless because of lack of adequate controls. The remaining 41% may have been alright, but contains internal evidence of bias in favour of the vaccinated.

According to the Daily Telegraph (June 18, 1955) Mr. Peterson, State Health Director of Idaho, stopped further inoculations and stated: “We have lost confidence in the Salk Vaccine.” He also stated that he “holds the vaccine, together with the instructions for its manufacture, directly responsible for the outbreak of polio and the deaths that had occurred.”

Idaho stopped Salk inoculations completely on July 1, 1955, with this blast from State Health Director Peterson said, “I hold Salk vaccine and its manufacturers responsible for a polio outbreak that has killed 7 Idahoans and hospitalized 79.” By September 14th 1955, that state had 190 cases compared with 132 for the entire year of 1954. Newark, N.J. stopped inoculations in June, 1955, while Utah took similar action on July 12.

An Associated Press Dispatch from Boston on August 30, 1955, reported 2,027 cases of polio in Massachusetts against 273 the same time the previous year-representing an increase of 743%. This followed the inoculation of 130,000 Massachusetts children, and the authorities banned the vaccine. Connecticut reported 276 cases in 1955, up from 144 in 1954;Vermont, 55 up from 15; Rhode Island, 122 up from 22, and Maine, 74 up from 43.

The Washington D.C. Star, September 20, 1955, reported 180 cases in Washington against 136 the same time in 1954; Maryland’s Health Department reported 189 in 1955 to 134 in 1954; New York State, 764 to 469; Wisconsin, 1655 to 326. The Milwaukee Journal, on August 30, 1955, reported that the city’s schools closed indefinitely because of the polio outbreak, following inoculation with the Salk vaccine.

An Associated Press dispatch on November 11, 1955, quoted Dr. Herbert Ratner, Health Commissioner of Oak Park, Illinois, who said that “English authorities in July, 1955, canceled the Salk vaccine programs as ‘too dangerous’, and all European countries, with the exception of Denmark, have discontinued their programs.” Canada also postponed its Salk vaccine program on July 29, 1955.

The New York Times on May 11, 1956, reported on Supplement No. 15 of the Poliomyelitis Surveillance Report for the year which showed 12% more paralysis in 1956 than in 1955. By January 1, 1957, 17 states had rejected their supplies of Jonas Salk’s “anti-paralytic” polio vaccine. During this year very nearly half the paralytic cases and three-quarters of the non-paralytic cases in children between the ages of 5 and 14 years occurred in “vaccinated” children.

The Expert Committee on Poliomyelitis of the World Health Organization stated in its Technical Report Series, No. 145 (Second Report, p. 34 Geneva, 1958) that:
“It was noted in the Union of South Africa and in the USA, especially in the course of severe outbreaks in Hawaii and Chicago, that vaccination in the face of an epidemic did not appear to shorten its course. Laboratory and field studies have shown that vaccination does not prevent infection or interfere with dissemination of virus in the community.”

Hawaii had an outbreak of polio in 1958. The Honolulu Advertiser on July 15, 1958, carried a statement by Dr. Enright of the Territorial Dept. of Health which broke down the figures as follows: “Of the 32 discovered paralytic polio cases so far this year, six had 3 Salk shots, six had 2 shots, four had one shot, the rest, none.” Percentage vaccinated: 50%.

The Chicago Daily News, May 28, 1959, printed the following UPI dispatch from Duluth, MN-“One of the developers of the new oral (polio) vaccine said Wednesday the recent use of Salk vaccine in Israel had ‘little if any effect.’ Dr. Herald R. Cox of Lederle Laboratories, suggested the ineffectiveness of Salk inoculations during a round table discussion at the Minnesota State Medical Association convention. Cox said a confidential report on a polio epidemic showed 90% of children under six years old in Israel were given Salk shots. But the outbreak became epidemic. It is evident that the vaccine failed,” Cox said.

– It was at this point the CDC changed the diagnostic criteria for Polio;
In 1958, the CDC formally adopted the “Best available paralytic poliomyelitis case count” or BAPPCC:

“Cases must be clinically and epidemiologically compatible with poliomyelitis, must have resulted in paralysis, and must have a residual neurological deficit 60 days after onset of initial symptoms. .. the BAPPCC does not include cases of nonparalytic poliomyelitis, of those in which paralysis is more transient. The original purpose of developing these criteria was to omit cases possibly due to enteroviruses other than polioviruses.” People who showed polio like symptoms that previously would have been diagnosed as Polio were now being diagnosed as: Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP), Transverse Myelitis, Viral or Aseptic Meningitis, Guillaine Barre Syndrome (GBS), Chinese Paralytic Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Epidemic Cholera, Cholera Morbus, Spinal Meningitis, Spinal Apolexy, Inhibitory Palsy, Intermittent Fever, Famine Fever, Worm Fever, Bilious Remittent Fever, Ergotis, ME, Post-Polio Syndrome aka GBS. Coxsackie virus and echo viruses can cause paralytic syndromes that are clinically indistinguishable from paralytic poliomyelitis.

Polio is more than paralysis or being encased in an iron lung. The question is always asked what happened to the iron lungs? Doesn’t that prove Polio has been eradicated/cured. No, it doesn’t. The iron lungs were replaced by oxygen tents and than respirators. So if one contracts one of the above illness and has breathing difficulties-you’ll likely to be put on a respirator or the little oxygen nose plugs. Today, If you object to taking the polio vaccine and you get polio–it is usually called “polio.” If you have been vaccinated and you get “polio”, it is called meningitis or one of the other names.

By 1960, the Salk vaccine had proven to be so hazardous and ineffective, that the Journal of the American Medical Association (February 25, 1961) carried an article admitting that, “It is now generally recognized that much of the Salk vaccine used in the U.S. has been worthless.”

In his statement submitted to the House of Representatives Sub-Committee on Health and Environment, 94th Congress, Dr. Thomas E. Baynes (Assistant Professor of Law at Nova University Law Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL, under a contract with HEW, CDC, No. 39204) reported to our elected officials that:
” In 1949, a polio vaccine was only a dream.now that dream has turned into a nightmare.

The extent of litigation from vaccine injuries in humans had been minimal until the advent of the Salk and Sabin vaccines .Resultant litigation from vaccine injuries will require a reevaluation of current efforts to immunize vast numbers of people from communicable diseases.”

“In about 95 percent of polio cases, infection from the polio virus causes no symptoms or serious effects. In about 5 percent of cases, the polio virus manifests in a mild form (abortive polio) with flu-like symptoms, in a non-paralytic form (aseptic meningitis) or in a severe form called paralytic polio. People who have minor or non-paralytic forms recover completely. …”

Before the polio vaccine, there was very little viral polio. There was paralysis, but its cause was not a polio virus but DDT pesticide poisoning. The chemical that likely poisoned FDR while swimming in a lake in upstate NY. Where DDT was produced, you also saw that it was exactly the region where the epidemic was. DDT was banned at the same time the polio vaccine was introduced, making the vaccine seem as though it were the cure of the disease. With the introduction of the OPV we created the most crippling viral polio ever. This tells the story. Statement On Clinical Intoxication From DDT And Other New Insecticides: http://www.whale.to/a/biskin.html, The Poison Cause of Poliomyelitis And Obstructions To Its Investigation, http://www.whale.to/a/scobey2.html,COMMON (CHEMICAL) POISONS THAT CAUSE POLIO Eleanor McBean: http://www.whale.to/vaccine/polio3.html, Pesticides and Polio: A Critique of Scientific Literature: http://www.whale.to/vaccine/west5a.html

Provocation poliomyelitis: Wyatt 1981, Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 55:543-557. This discusses the many scientists from 1914-1950 who observed the phenomenon that injections can cause outbreaks of polio. Most of these papers observed that paralysis correlated to the limb that was injected and then spread from there.

By 1956 and until the Sabin vaccine was used, doctors who tested every single batch of the vaccine for the FDA (then the DBS) found every single batch, not just the Cutter batch, was live. The vaccine was consistently paralyzing the monkeys, with every batch. When things were going good for Salks, he took the credit but when the vaccine was shown to be a failure he blamed first the Cutter Lab that created the vaccine from the formula he provided and when that didn’t fly he blamed Dr. Bennett who had committed suicide.

Time Magazine, January 19, 1959 reporting on the “Scientific Symposium on Poliomyelitis Vaccine’ held at University of Michigan School of Public Health stated that much of the material used in about 200 million United States inoculation “has been no good”.

Dr. Salk’s response to that (Medical News Page 2, January 28 1959) was to say that the failure of his vaccine to date was due to “individually defective immuno-mechanisms, a non-bloodstream route of virus spread, or waning immunity.”

In 1958, Dr. Bernice Eddy noticed that there was something in the Salk vaccine which was having some nasty effects on all her laboratory animals, and caused vacuolation in culture medium.

She became very concerned about what that virus did with the immune systems of animals. They knew by this time, that many monkey viruses had been found in the Salk vaccine, and they were also just starting to look into another called Mason Pfizer Monkey virus (which causes AIDS in macaque monkeys which it does not originate from). Although she did not know it at the time, the principle virus she was seeing was the effects of SV40.

Bernice Eddy was working with certain batch numbers of the vaccine, which caused greater problems, than other batches. One doctor in Illinois was getting very worried about the Salk vaccine. He took it upon himself to keep some of those batches under correct storage, and for long term storage. What concerned him was that certain batches of the vaccine were causing clusters of leukemia. It turned out that these batches of the vaccine were the same batches as the ones Bernice Eddy was worried about.

What Dr. Bernice E. Eddy found was that the (Salk) vaccine made by the Cutter labs had been improperly inactivated, and that the polio vaccine was contaminated with a cancer causing animal virus–SV40.] She discovered that when she injected hamsters with the kidney mixture on which the vaccine was cultured, they developed tumors. Eddy’s superiors tried to keep the discovery quiet, but Eddy presented her data at a cancer conference in New York. She was eventually demoted, and lost her laboratory. [2000] The Virus and the Vaccine by Debbie Bookchin and Jim Schumacher Also: [Book extract. The Health Century] Dr. Bernice E. Eddy, whose lab tests found that the Cutter vaccine had been improperly inactivated:PBS. October of 1960 Eddy gave a talk at the New York meeting of the Cancer Society and told them that because of the virus found in the vaccine there would be an explosion of cancer in 30 years. This timeline coincides with the explosion of soft tissue cancers beginning in the 1970’s and continues to this date. Research Bernice Eddy, SV-40 & Maurice Hilleman.

Changing the diagnostic criteria for Polio from being paralyzed for only 72 hours to being paralyzed fro 60 days gave the impression that vaccine was working:

-During the 1962 Congressional Hearings on HR 10541, Dr. Bernard Greenberg, head of the Department of Biostatistics of the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, testified that not only did polio increase substantially (50 percent from 1957 to 1958 and 80 percent from 1958 to 1959) after the introduction of mass and frequently compulsory immunization programs, but statistics were manipulated and statements made by the Public Health Service to give the opposite impression.

Suppressed reports condemning the Salk vaccine by technicians at the National Institutes of Health, was reported in, The Drug Story by Morris Bealle. Among the stories carried in this book is the one that James A.Shannon, M.D., of the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C.,knew about the reports from the Institute’s technicians in 1955, that”Salk vaccine was a killer and totally ineffective as a preventative.” As a result of these reports of the Institutes Technicians, no official of the NIH would permit the vaccination of their own children with the Salk vaccine. Word of this leaked out when Robert S. Allen, Washington correspondent, reported in the New York Post, June 8, 1955, that
“Doctors and others on the staff of the National Institute of Health are not inoculating their own children with the Salk Vaccine.”
“Nevertheless,” says Mr. Bealle, “on orders from higher-ups in the U.S. Public Health Service, they kept quiet and let hundreds of unfortunate children be killed and thousands maimed for life.”

-Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Alton Ochsner, a stockholder in the Salk vaccine & one of the most prominent doctors in New Orleans wanted to prove to the world that the vaccine was safe, this was after people had developed polio from it, that he held a news conference & inoculated his own grandchildren with it. Ochsner’s grandson died. His granddaughter contracted polio but survived. Ochsner’s was heavily financially involved in the development of the vaccine.

“In 1977, Dr Jonas Salk who developed the first polio vaccine, testified along with other scientists, that mass inoculation against polio was the cause of most polio cases throughout the USA since 1961. (Science 4/4/77 “Abstracts” –Control of influenza and poliomyelitis with killed virus vaccines)
sciencemag.com and a very small embedded article in the Washington Post on September 24, 1976

The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) admitted that the vaccine has become the dominant cause of polio in the US today, with 87% of cases between 1973 and 1983 caused by the vaccine. More recently, 1980-1989, every case of polio in the US was caused by the vaccine. Doctors and scientists on the staff of the National Institute of Health during the 1950’s were well aware that the Salk vaccine was ineffective and deadly. Some frankly stated that it was “worthless as a preventative and dangerous to take”. The Salk “inactivated” or “killed-virus” was actually regulated to permit 5,000 live viruses per million doses.

Vaccines Did Not Save Us – 2 Centuries Of Official Statistics
child health safety website-107 pages of historical data.

-Smoke, Mirrors, and the “Disappearance” Of Polio
Writes extensive about the history of the Polio vaccine

-The Polio Myth at Spark of Light website by Janine Roberts-medical investigative reporter and her films on human rights issues won a Nomination for Best Documentaries, various film festival awards, and been on the BBC, the ABC, Channel 4 and WGBH (PBS network) across the Australia, US and Canada. Her book-Fear of the Invisible can be found on Amazon.

-The CDC has removed from all Medical Schools and has blocked all public access to The Polio Surveillance Units between the years 1955-1970. They will be listed as missing. Even in other countries people have discovered them “missing” in medical school libraries. There is one place you can see them, and that is in the United States American Medical Association Library. The only snag is that you have to have top security clearance to see them, according to someone who tried to access them. The only reason that would be is the Salk Polio Vaccine showed zero efficiency and the government doesn’t want people to find out. There are several Doctors who posted copies online that keep disappearing. These Doctors were there and remember that the vaccine was a disaster because it caused polio.

Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine , 6th edition, p. 943: “RARELY IS PREVENTION OF INFECTION PER SE CONSIDERED TO BE AN IMPORTANT GOAL OF VACCINATION. In fact, asymptomatic infection after vaccination can serve to enhance and prolong the immune response.” Of course, if the immune response has been overwhelmed or corrupted, the “asymptomatic infection” will become a CHRONIC DISEASE. In fact, on the same page of Harrison’s, in the following paragraph, it states the following:

“PERSISTENCE AND LATENCY. Many viruses persist in host tissues for months or years without causing overt disease. A FLARE-UP OF THESE LATENT INFECTIONS MAY BE INDUCED BY TRAUMA, INTERCURRENT DISEASE, DECLINE IN ANTIBODY TITERS, OR UNKNOWN STIMULI. Experiments with tissue cultures and laboratory animals reveal that persistence of virus in tissue results from an interplay of various factors peculiar to each virus and its host. LATENCY IS PROMOTED BY THE PRESENCE OF ANTIBODY OR OTHER VIRAL INHIBITORS THAT PREVENT EXTENSIVE CELL-TO-CELL SPREAD OF VIRUS. IF ANTIBODY IS WITHDRAWN, VIRAL MULTIPLICATION OFTEN RESUMES, WITH CONCOMITANT CELLULAR NECROSIS.”

In the same (6th) Edition of Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine , it is stated on page 975 in regards to the poliomyelitis vaccine: “Vaccine virus multiplies in the intestinal tract and remains at this site. LIVE VACCINE VIRUS SPREADS AND INFECTS CONTACTS OF VACCINATED INDIVIDUALS. This type of immunization in the presence of epidemic poliomyelitis may lead to REPLACEMENT OF THE “WILD” PARALYTOGENIC STRAIN BY THE ONE IN THE VACCINE…..” In direct contradiction to this statement, the 1/1/2000 Vaccine Information statement put out by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Immunization Program states that the “OPV (Oral Polio Vaccine) is better at keeping the disease from spreading to other people. However, it does state in this document that “OPV actually causes polio”.

——————————————————
I discussion I read on Age of Autism in regards to Salk and the Oilio vaccine that I fond interesting.

@Mark Struthers –

Discussion why Salk was not elected to the National Academy of Sciences:

“The reason is that he did not make any innovative scientific discovery”.
Yeah, right. This is a lot of bull@#$%, obviously. He just invented the answer to a deadly epidemic. This is not “innovative” or “scientific” enough? Bahhaa…

The more important sentence in my view is this:
“Salk wasn’t elected to the National Academy of Sciences because he just wasn’t a very good scientist”.

OK, this is revealing. It’s the tip of the iceberg.
Salk wasn’t a good scientist. OK. I dig.
And what was the hallmark of his life work? The Salk polio vaccine.

So this vaccine was the product of a “not-good-enough” scientist? It must have been a not-to-good vaccine, then… Interestingly, it was replaced 6-7 years after it was launched with another vaccine, wasn’t it?

Hey, but didn’t this vaccine save millions? Didn’t it stop the dreadful polio epidemic right on its tracks?

Posted by: Vaccine.Explorer | September 30, 2011 at 08:32 AM

@Vaccine.Explorer

I’ve got a copy of Paul Offit’s book, ‘The Cutter Incident’.

I’ve copied a long paragraph (pages 129 -130) about Salk and his failure to get elected to the National Academy of Scienes.

“Sabin’s attacks on Jonas Salk were tSalk or his work deserved special recognition. Polio researchers such as John Paul, Joseph Smadel, John Enders, Thomas Weller, Frederick Robbins, David Bodian, Albert Sabin, and Thomas Rivers were all elected to the National Academy of Sciences, a prestigious society for those who make important contributions to science. But Salk was never elected. Scientists and voting members of the academy claimed that Salk hadn’t done anything original. he most direct and the most personal, but many scientists didn’t believe that Thomas Rivers, when asked why Salk was never elected into the academy, said, “Original work! You don’t get into the Academy without [doing] original work! Just as you don’t get the Nobel Prize except for original work. Now, I’m not saying that Jonas wasn’t a damned good man, but there had been killed vaccines before. Lots of them. And formalin-killed ones at that. ” Thomas Weller, co-winner of the Nobel Prize with John Enders, said, “Salk wasn’t elected to the National Academy of Sciences because he just wasn’t a very good scientist.” Renato Dulbecco, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1975 for his work on viruses that cause cancer, wrote Salk’s obituary for the scientific journal Nature: “For his work on polio vaccine, Salk received every major recognition available in the world from the public and governments. But he received no recognition from the scientific world – he was not awarded the Nobel Prize, nor did he become a member of the US National Academy of Sciences. The reason is that he did not make any innovative scientific discovery.””

Posted by: Mark Struthers | September 30, 2011 at 07:14 AM

I have an interesting historic riddle for Dan, Mark and AoA readers:

Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine that (allegedly) saved millions of lives in the US and around the world, was regarded as a demigod by the public in the 50s.

The same Jonas Salk was never admitted to the National Academy of Science.

All of Salk’s comrades from the great polio battle-that-was-won were admitted to the NAS: Sabin, Flexner, Enders, Landsteiner, Thomas Francis, Charles Armstrong, David Bodian, John Paul, etc.

But Salk wasn’t.
How could that be and what does it tell us about the polio vaccine?

———————————————————————————————————————————————-

Regardless of why polio is no longer seen as a major threat, the history of the polio vaccines is one of horrific consequences that few Americans know anything about.

At the 11th hour, a bacteriologist at NIH was told to safety-test the new polio vaccine. Her name was Bernice Eddy. When she injected the vaccine into her monkeys, they fell paralyzed in their cages. Eddy realized that the virus in the vaccine was not dead as promised, but still alive and ready to multiply. It was time to sound the alarm. She sent pictures of the paralyzed monkeys to NIH’s management and warned them of the upcoming tragedy. A debate erupted in the corridors of power. Was the polio vaccine really ready? Should the mass inoculation proceed on schedule?

A handful of prominent doctors across the country stepped into the fray to throw the weight of their reputations on the side of the vaccine. One of these doctors was Mary Sherman’s boss, Dr. Alton Ochsner. (Editor’s note: Mary Sherman is the Mary in the book title and Alton Ochsner was one of the most prominent doctors in New Orleans where the secret monkey virus lab exposed by this book was located.) To demonstrate his conviction that the vaccine was really ready, Dr. Ochsner inoculated his own grandchildren with it.

The mass inoculation proceeded on schedule. Within days, children fell sick from polio, some were crippled, some died. Estimates vary dramatically. (The truth will never be known–TV) Ochsner’s grandson died. His granddaughter contracted polio but survived. An enormous lawsuit erupted. Heads rolled everywhere. The Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (Oveta Hobby) stepped down. The Director of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Dr. William Sebrell, resigned. It was the biggest fiasco in medical history. A second, safer vaccine developed by Albert Sabin was deployed. It used a weakened live virus instead of a dead virus. It worked. Polio was history; the future was safe–or so it seemed.”

Polio is not eradicated. It is alive and well in the form of the aforementioned diseases. Every country that the Polio vaccine has been used has had a substantial increase in AFP. Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Syria-all have had increases in AFP. Not only increases in Polio, but increase in brain disorders because the vaccine industry and the WHO voted to not remove mercury from vaccines that went to third world counties.

Smallpox has a similar mythical history. Both disease were declared eradicated by the WHO because it was at the point that they could not longer hide the fact that people continued to get the disease. Smallpox and Polio vaccines caused polio and smallpox. Since they were declared eradicated, people are no longer diagnosed with them. Polio like outbreak in California in children beginning last year-it’s classic polio but since polio doesn’t exist-they don’t know what to diagnosis the children with.

Matt, that is a misleading chart. It looks at a very small segment of years and the decline looks much sharper than it actually was because of how the graph is skewed. If you looked at the actual mortality and prevalence charts (referenced in both of my prior posts from the United States Vital Statistics and MMWR) you would see that polio was on the decline BEFORE the vaccine came on the scene as was the case with measles. You’re also probably aware that the WHO reclassified polio after the vaccines was licensed which made it look like the vaccine was more successful than it was. I think if you’re going to make a statement that “the polio vaccine is entirely responsible for the drop on that curve” you should link to a credible source that accurately represents the curve.

It is pertinent to point out that no-one has raised the subject of how the human body can naturally recover from these diseases when they occur, with or without being vaccinated.

My husband and I have raised 3 children, never having to resort to a medical doctor or a drug or an antibiotic once, save for the time when our then 10 year old son cut his head open. We accepted a butterfly clip but no tetanus shot. No problem. All three have had natural measles but fasted when they were anorexic and recovered quickly and completely. None of them has been vaccinated.

They have all had some minor sicknesses (the eldest is now 23) but have all fasted when sick and their bodies recovered beautifully. They have all had fevers but again have fasted and never needed any medication.

Most people including doctors, natural therapists and antivaxers have little understanding of the true nature of health and disease. Disease is just as natural as health, it’s just not normal. The human body is self-developing, self- repairing and self- defending. These are axiomatic, self-evident truths. Have trust in yourselves.

Thank you. I’m tired of it too. I just finished reading “What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Vaccinations” and it sickened me. I’m tired of the pharmaceutical and government snow jobs for greed without concern for human life. I’ve shared your link on my timeline and in different groups.

Hey Emily, I read that book in the early 90’s and thank God I did besides listening to the encouragement of my friends who didn’t vaccinate. When I had children in 03 and 05 and already knew they would never have one vaccine injected. Healthy kids then an now and continuing. I have no fear. They have broken bones, got cut with metal (and no risk of tetanus because I know what to look for and do), ate dirt (not really but you know what I mean), etc.

As a mother of a 2 year old toddler, I spent many hours doing vaccine “research” during my pregnancy. And I came to the decision to fully vaccinate my child. In regards to not vaccinating, most of the sources I encountered (mostly online but also a few books) contained false/incorrect/misunderstood data and anecdotal evidence – much like this site. I would like to add some anecdotal “evidence” of my own:
My husband, who was NOT vaccinated as a child suffers from asthma, numerous allergies and as a child had many, many ear infections. Very strange that all of this happened to him despite a lack of vaccinations.

Just because he was NOT vaccinated doesnt exclude him from ever getting sick or diseases. Vaccination INCREASES the risk, but everyone is at some degree of risk, its like saying my nan smoked all her life and died from old age, so thefore smoking cannot cause lung cancer or somebody with lung cancer who has never smoked saying well I never smoked therfore not smoking causes lung cancer. Its an increased risk not NO risk. We have so many chemicals and pollutants in our world, living is a risk, however cutting down on KNOWN risks is a benefit, but doesnt make us immune.

Jane – you actually helped make my point for me. Each person is an individual and they all have different immune systems. However, very often the reasons presented for not vaccinating are circumstantial and speculative. I.e. “My sisters children who were vaccinated are always sick and have ear infections, asthma etc, while my non vaccinated children are never sick and oh so healthy”. This is often cited as proof of why one shouldn’t vaccinate, including on this blog. It does help your cause with this type of anecdotal”evidence”.

However I havent stopped vaccinating because someone elses kid is healthier than one vaccinated etc.. I have stopped due to the potential risk of having an adverse reaction from the vaccination being higher for us than the potential risk of them contracting the disease and then the slight potential risk of that disease causing an issue. If this changes, then so will my views. Also we have two family members who have had an adverse reaction after a vaccination, which both times was ignored, not noted and not reported or investigated, how many more times has this occured, we will never know how dangerous vaccinations are if this is what happens! Most people I know are the same, very few wont vaccinate because somebody elses kids are healthy?

Also everyone IS different and has different immune systems, so why do we vaccinate as if everyone is the same, same dose, same schedule regardless, even premmie babies are jabbed with multiple vaccinations in the special care unit…., it should be tested and tailored for each individual, as they dont all react the same and sometimes the reaction is deadly or even fatal.

Sorry, but I find this vry difficult to believe. The symptoms you are describing are so very typical of a vaccinated child, of that time, who received a lot of mercury in vaccines. Doctors noticed that when the mercury in vaccines was reduced, they stopped seeing those little kids with months and months -even years of ear infections. My guess is that some family member took the child to be vaccinated without the knowledge of others.

She makes some very interesting points. I used to think the anti-vaccine folks were overly paranoid, because vaccines have saved countless lives.

Only the older generation remembers the polio counts and boys who were sterilized by mumps and the birth defects in babies born to Moms exposed to Rubella.

But now, the CDC isn’t being honest with us. They’re the ones who set this pro-vaccine fire and are fanning the flames of criticism of those who don’t participate.

***NOTE: No one should get any vaccine if they are sick, have neurological symptoms, are immunosuppressed, or have inflammation, including active allergies. Inflammation can allow ingredients in the vaccine to penetrate the blood brain barrier when they’re not supposed to. That’s how a vaccine can do neurological damage.***

I’m not blanket anti-vaccine as this writer is. I don’t believe it’s an all or nothing question. The diseases that ran rampant in the past did far more damage than the vaccines do. From a societal perspective, we’re better off. But that’s not much consolation to the people harmed by a vaccine.

It’s all about the risks. We need to be properly informed about each vaccine so we can make a decision on each one. People, including young healthy people, do still die of diseases for which there are vaccines available (meningitis, for example).

And despite the writer’s statements, unvaccinated children do benefit when most of the people around them are vaccinated. (Measles, for example, will spread quickly through an unvaccinated population, but it’s rare here.)

The vaccine-autism debate just won’t go away and I don’t have answers on that. But one must acknowledge the many autistic kids who’ve never had a vaccine.

As for me, there will be no flu shots or Gardasil shots. The risk just doesn’t seem worth it, and the CDC has earned my skepticism.

I really enjoyed reading this. It’s very well written and makes some extremely valid points. I’ve been the subject or ridicule many times for exercising my right to chose not too. It is not a decision any parents makes lightly or without serious consideration and research. I have to agree that there is so much emphasis about tolerance and acceptance in this country, unless it is when we chose not to vaccinate. And it shouldn’t be that way. Each person has the absolute right to get vaccinations if they subscribe to concept that it would protect them. But so should we also have the right not do, if we don’t subscribe. It should be as simple as that. Thank you for taking the time put yourself out there and say what most of us parents are thinking.

I could not have said it better myself. If I challenged any moms I know that vaccinate to a debate I am 99% sure they are not as educated on the subject as I am. They did it because it is what you are “supposed to do.” I am tired of being looked at as making an erratic and uneducated decision when I was the one who read and researched as much as possible to make an informed decision. In Colorado they are trying to pass something where I will have to attend a class to educate myself on the dangers before my kids can continue to go to school. My sister and I laughed so hard at this….bring it on. I would love to see the look on the “instructors” face when a room full of us uneducated parents teach them a thing or two. Ha ha ha…I feel sorry for whoever gets that job.

The issue isn’t about what you do to your family – it’s what happens to those around you. If you get the measles because you’ve not vaccinated, that’s your choice. If you spread it to your neighbors you’ve made a choice for others.

That’s the basic point being made – by NOT vaccinating you run the risk of infecting others, forcing a choice upon them. I think the reason you feel attacked is because you put others at risk – and that can be considered an attack of sorts…

Given the perspective you appear to espouse, you’d never consider that your decision about your insular family might be considered a violation of someone else’s rights…

I would point you to ,a href=”http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/02/20/13-fordham-university-students-believed-to-have-mumps/this article, from February of this year, two months ago, where 13 students at Fordham got the mumps, Fordham requires proof of vaccination, and yet…hmmmm, they still had an outbreak. But yes, it’s all the unvaccinated children who caused this.

Every student at Fordham has to show proof that they’ve been vaccinated for mumps — specifically the mumps, measles and rubella virus — before attending, Brown reported.

This raises concerns and questions: If everyone here has been vaccinated, why the outbreak? The answer is that the vaccination does not offer 100 percent protection.

I would also like to add, on my son’s first MMR, his leg swelled up from knee to hip to the size of a man’s upper arm. I thought his skin was going to split open, it was stretched so tight. It was terrifying and yes, we reported to VAERS (it’s actually required by law to report adverse events). After that, I have been super cautious about vaccines, especially those which do not have long term studies, ie varicella, HPV, etc.

An unvaccinated OR vaccinated child is more likely to get measles from a recently vaccinated child than any vaccinated child getting it from the unvaccinated. Please do better research. Anyone who is diagnosed immune-suppressed is told not to go around anyone who has recently been vaccinated. Unfortunately, there is no way for those people to know who, out in public, has been vaccinated recently, because they don’t wear a sign.

Victor, this point really bothers me. I will never subject my child to unproven medical procedures because others have cancer, no spleen, whatever. If you expect me to be sorry and feel that I am selfish, you go right ahead but I gave birth to my healthy child and in fact the burden of safety for a healthy child should in fact be even higher.

Matt –
Please provide references, citations, medical/government sites to back up your assertion that Vaccinations are “proven”. ALL Vaccines are unproven medical experiments; there have NEVER been any long-term, double-blind placebo studies to test their efficacy or side-effects. None.

Vaccinating is not the same as inoculating. Inoculating has been around for a very long time but that was a pure form not combined with Toxic chemicals. Researching this and how are bodies work keep me on the fence. I think it’s a great idea to introduce our bodies to diseases in small or inactive states but adding the crap to “preserve” that virus causes problems. Our bodies are strong but weakening them with artificial chemicals makes it hard for the body to do it’s job.

Side note that keeps me more on the “to do vaccinate”…. Why is it you can sue for any side from any medication but there is an anti suet clause for vaccines? Doesn’t make since. And you can’t say it’s because too many people would blame their symptoms on vaccines. There are tests to rule out vaccine injury but they are expensive. Why do you think there’s a vaccine injury fund? But you can’t sue?

Good for you for speaking your mind. I could only get about three paragraphs in before I could no longer handle your hateful tone towards anyone who doesn’t think exactly like you do. If you write and title an article that wants to counteract all of the hatefulness of a debate then your article shouldn’t also be so negative.

Thank you. This is the first post I have seen that discusses the other side of the debate. I applaud your courage for speaking out.

Another piece of information that is never discussed is the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. A federal program founded to compensate those injured by vaccines. The most disturbing information is the list of vaccines and their injuries that are considered compensable. In other words, injuries the federal government recognizes as being caused by vaccines. Over $1 billion has been paid out in the last 5 years.

Thank you so very much for this article. As always it is a risk to speak up when you are not the majority. I appreciate your bravery.
What I love the most your Bully reference. I never thought to put it in that perspective which is odd since we have been bullied, mostly by Drs.
Our first daughter was only a year, when she developed a high fever and no other symptoms. It went on for days until I finally took her in to a clinic. On call was a pediatric specialist. She started asking standard questions including vaccines. We said our child was not vaccinated, but we were waiting until she was older. The Dr. actually called us irresponsible, and that we were putting our child at risk for horrible diseases. She also shamed us in front of her student doctor and said to us, You are possibly making my intern see a disease here that she shouldn’t have to worry about treating. She then KICKED us out of her office. Not ONCE laying hands on my daughter. Who, twelve hours later was in the ER with a full on kidney infection. Because the standard of practice according to the Pediatric Society, is for a girl with fever and no other symptoms is to do a urine sample. She ended up with scaring on her kidneys, a year of antibiotics and surgery. So, I appreciate your article….very much.

I am qualified in immunology and on reaching the end of the immunology course I sat back baffled. We were taught an enormous amount about how the immune system works, but nothing in what we were taught had anything to do with actual immunity.
So wonderful did the theory of vaccination and the wonders of new developments in vaccine that I suggested my wife get the flu shot as she had serious asthma. She got sick, very sick. Was it the vaccine of was it that she was just unlucky to get one of these mythical mutations? Next year, exactly the same thing happened. The following year the doctor convinced her and boy did she get sick. No more, no vaccines of any type.
I then undertook six years of personal research of nearly a thousand documents going right back to Jenner’s abomination. After six years of in depth research I came to two totally undeniable conclusions – vaccines do cause autism and the many related disorders, demyelinating conditions, allergies, etc – the list is too long to post here.
– there is no such thing as immunity to disease and that has been known since 1893 (data submitted to the Royal Inquiry into Vaccines 1893-1896).
The secret to health has been known for millennia – good food, clean water and clean air. These things are difficult to find in our modern toxic world so I would expect, with more of our food being adulterated, some even before its killed, our water poisoned in the name of public health and our air increasingly toxic, a resurgence in diseases that are now very rare and the appearance of new ones.

It constantly baffles me that even doctors, supposedly intelligent and highly educated people can not see the flaw in giving disease to maybe prevent disease. It also baffles me why anyone would strongly advocate your children get vaccinated and yet not vaccinate their own, doctors seem to be the least likely to get their own children vaccinated – they see the results and some even believe what they see.

We can hope so but the Obama government seems content to do nothing about autism. The rates continue to skyrocket and he just named a Bill Gates (who endlessly promotes vaccines) employee- Sylvia Burwell to replace Sebelius at HHS- which definitely shows he doesntbwant change. I bet he was fully aware of what that meant.

By calling it bullying, you are trying to shame people into being quiet.

What you are not taking into consideration is that people’s emotions always run hot when children are involved, particularly own’s own children. If I believe your actions endanger my children, why can’t I get angry?

If you choose not to activate your kids that is your choice, just like it is my choice not to let them play with yours because it would endanger them.

I always find this one baffling. “You can’t play with my kid…” I bet your child has played with A LOT of unvaxxed kids you have no idea are unvaxxed and no ill effects have occurred. The problem “we”have is that you all are highly uneducated and only take the word of media and doctors. Do actual research, it might surprise you. And just note: most, if not ALL, parents were at one time in the same boat as you — very much PRO-vaccines.

What if your belief is mistaken–gravely mistaken? What if you have been led to believe that the diseases are far more deadly than they are, and that the vaccines are far safer and far more effective than they are?

Your anger, and your fear that your children may be endangered, come from a highly successful long-term scheme to sell vaccines.

Please look back just a few years to the H1N1 debacle, where scientists, doctors, and the news media reported that a terrible, deadly plague was about to run amok. Where did that information come from? DIRECTLY FROM THE MANUFACTURERS OF TAMIFLU AND THE H1N1 SHOT.

Before then, very few people got flu shots, and very flu people died of the flu. In all probability, you did not get a flu shot growing up, nor a chicken pox shot. Neither did I . We got flu, chicken pox, and other viruses, and like the vast majority of people, we were mildly ill for a short time, got better, and never got those diseases again.

But the next generation won’t have those memories. They’re going to believe everything the pharmaceutical industry tells them, about how dangerous viruses are, how everyone used to die from them, and how lucky we are to have vaccines to prevent them.

Ask your parents if they even remember getting measles and mumps, and whether it was life-threatening to them, or whether it was just unpleasant and uncomfortable for a few days.

Now take a look at the 2000-plus cases of vaccine-induced brain damage (yes, that’s right, BRAIN DAMAGE) that the US Department of Health and Human Services has quietly conceded, compensated–and then promptly sealed, so that nobody can access that information.

What if one of those children were your child? Wouldn’t you resent being told that unvaccinated children are a threat to community health, when nobody told you that the vaccine might result in permanent brain damage?

How do you think those parents feel about a government that quietly admits and pays for such damage, while publicly insisting that it doesn’t happen?

The kicker: less than 1% of vaccine injury cases even make it to the Department of Health and Human Services. Many reactions go unrecognized and unreported; in the case of those that are acknowledged as such, most families don’t even know that they can sue the government. There’s a 3-year statute of limitations (only 2 for a death); that’ s 3 years from the date of vaccination, not 3 years from onset of symptoms. In the case of measles SSPE, which can occur years after either measles infection or measles inoculation, the statute runs out a couple of years before onset of symptoms.

Those who do know that they can go to court often choose not to; it’s an expensive, high-stress, time-consuming process that most families caring 24/7 for a severely injured family member simply can’t afford. No, they do not need to pay for the attorney, but they have to pay for any expert witnesses. And the rules of law do not apply; the vaccine manufacturers are not required to furnish any evidence about their product. It’s all on the injured party to prove injury–without proof from the manufacturer, who holds all the safety studies. AND they have to disprove other possibilities.

Know anyone who WANTS to sue the government, in a court run by the government?

Thank you for this very brave and informative article.
Corporate paid for science is more than ever questionable, skewed and manipulated.
Government safety institutions are bullied, intimidated and often guided by vested interest into rubber stamping this questionable science.
Society pays the price.
Articles like this inform us to make better decisions on our own, whatever they may be, and take responsibility for them.
Marcel

Thank you for this article.
I do agree that the so called effectiveness of vaccines is totally misleading and some of these illnesses are becoming immune to the vaccinations.

2 years ago, we had a whooping cough outbreak in our small rural community in NSW Australia. Virtually all the vaccinated children contracted the illness apart from my children who hadn’t received the vaccination!

In addition to this, I encouraged my kids to pick up chicken pox by keeping them all close together when my middle child contracted it. It was hard work nursing 3 kids for a week, but it wasn’t serious and they all bounced back to normal after.
My Mum did exactly the same with me when I was little. I remember being shoved in bed with the neighbours kid and catching measles and mumps.
There’s a lot of hype about the seriousness of childhood illnesses, no they’re not very nice to endure what illness is? But I do believe that it my immunity is stronger for naturally fighting these illnesses.

Wow! Thank you for having the bravery to put yourself ‘out there’ and say what most of us are too afraid to say. Your article is so well written.
I personally have been bullied into submission so to speak and have kept my decision a secret (for the most part) because of the vicious response I got when I was pregnant and beginning to research the issue. My sister told me our children would not be allowed to play together, I was attacked by my doctor when I questioned his opinion (which I was not being malicious at all- At the time I was questioning the process).. he ended our conversation abrubtly by saying its selffish of me to put other children at risk because Im afraid of possible side effects, followed by “I VACCINATE MY DAUGHTER”. I thought to myself, well that isnt a valid point, why would he say that? Friends who are teachers have also had the same angry response, so I eventually pushed it all down, and decided to not mention a word to anyone to protect my child. I hate that he is the victim of all the judgement and ridicule. Now, we are faced with possibly not being admitted to Montessori school because its a mandatory schedule.. *SIGH*
That is the point of my comment; this is what bothers me. We as adults are being bullied yes, but it is the our children who are the target. Why has none of the media or any of the pro vaxxers acknowledged that most vaccines are only effective for 5 years. How many ADULTS are up to date with their vaccines? I would venture a guess that THAT number is extremely low, and if they want to use herd immunity as their scare tactic, why target the children? Is is unfortunate that they are the focus of all this animosity.
Thank you for shedding light on such a heated topic. I myself and so fed up with this ‘debate’ and wish we could just practice mutual respect for decisions based on ones own beliefs and free will.
xox

In actuality the requirement that you declare your child’s vaccination status is illegal under the privacy act. That is medical data and disclosure of that data by anyone without your written consent is illegal.
The requirement that your child be vaccinated or he will be excluded is also illegal under the anti-discrimination act.
Thirdly, for them to insist your child be vaccinated is also illegal because that is practicing medicine without a license. There are many medical reasons to not vaccinate because of the risks, by forcing you to vaccinate against your wishes, if your child has one of these conditions, could kill your child. They do not know your child’s medical history nor your medical history .
There is also international and federal laws that state you have the right to chose your own medical treatment, that it is illegal for anyone to force any medical treatment on you against your wishes.
Try this, write out a document declaring that Montessori will accept full responsibility for any harm your child may suffer as a result of vaccination and will take responsibility for full and fair compensation for any adverse event your child might suffer no matter how slight. I very much doubt they will sign, a document like that would have to go to head office to be authorised and signed.

Wow. Thank you so much Don! I will definitely follow your advice and write that letter to Montessori.
We fell in love with that school and were very excited for our son. They told us because they are a private school they reserve the right to accept and reject students on their discrepancy. Either way, I will go back armed with that letter and his registration and hope it works to our benefit.
I still wish there wasn’t so much senseless fear surrounding the issue Angie recently posted…Hello world!

Angie, I completely understand your fears. I partially/selectively vaccinated and I am honestly shocked at the number of teachers who admit the same thing- many not vaccinating until around 3 or 4 when school prompts them to at least get some of the vaccines.
I do think we all need to speak out, though. I think there is a growing majority of us and if you think about it, it would be harder for the vaccine zealots to deny a problem if even more celebrities and citizens came out and admitted they don’t follow the schedule either.

Vaccinated people are coming down with vaccine-preventable diseases — pertussis, varicella, mumps. How have government and industry responded? Denial, obfuscation, and straw-man redirection.

Two virologists allege that Merck used fraudulent research (“Protocol 007″) to grossly overstate mumps vaccine efficacy.

The CDC whitewashed autism statistics from Brick Township, NJ, and hired federal fugitive Poul Thorsen to fake epidemiology about mercury in vaccines. Not to mention the “Generation Zero” statistics Thomas Verstraeten manipulated to almost eliminate the Thimerosal/autism association.

No wonder Congress is finally starting to realize the devastating toll that vaccine injury has taken on the U.S. financially and sociologically.

People who parrot inflammatory rhetoric like “anti-vaxxer!” merely show how easily their fear chain can be pulled by media campaigns by the guilty parties in government and industry.

We all carry diseases at any given time; we never know when our sneeze or unwashed hand could be lethal to someone else. Unfortunately over-vaccinated children may have suffered immune impairment that interferes with their body’s ability to fight off disease.

With an ever-increasing schedule, lack of testing in combinations, and policymakers willing to accept high levels of collateral damage, vaccines have become too much of a good thing. Vaccine injury victims deserve compassion, not condemnation.nhokkanen recently posted…Your Health, Your Choice

This is a general comment to some of the statements I read in previous posts. I am typically not one to delve into these types of discussions however some statements concerned me. I guess as I am getting older I am less concerned about what others think of me.

I believe it is very important for individuals to understand that while a university education and a degree does give the student expertise in a specific area it can often be slanted in a particular direction; example much information is distributed by pharmaceutical companies when obtaining traditional medical training.

As an individual who has made a 180 degree change regarding the necessity for excessive vaccinations and over use of antibiotics, the abundant ingestion of processed foods and reliance solely on allopathic medicine I can say that I have spent 1000’s of hours researching and verifying findings before making decisions regarding health and education. I began in the allopathic field as a Registered Nurse years ago and have spent many years since then building on my education. (Not necessarily in a classroom setting with a professor feeding me information-not that this is wrong but we need to be discerning). An example of where this can sometimes go wrong. Kind of a funny story. I was on another list serve awhile ago and somehow the discussion moved onto Canadian health care. I think it started out with a discussion on autism. One individual stated that in Canada you are not allowed to obtain additional health coverage and must rely on the government’s meniscal coverage. No disrespect meant to my US friends but this discussion was between Americans. When I challenged her on this she apologized and told me that she had been taught this by a professor during her college education. Being a Canadian I do know how our health system works and do carry additional coverage at a very affordable price.

But I digress. Many of my opinions have been changed with further education as I diversify my sources of information and research. One simply has to look at the over use of antibiotics in previous years and the increase of opportunistic and antibiotic resistance infections to understand that over use can come with drastic results. I am not so blinded that I believe that because something is written in a science book or comes from peer reviewed research that it is necessarily accurate or that it disputes other observations. One simply has to look at all the theories that have been brought forth over the years and then discarded decades later as more research comes available. I am not completely anti vaccination but I feel the over zealous use of them, in particular with young children and babies whose immune system is not fully developed, whose brain is in a rapid state of development( vaccine components pass the blood brain barrier) and the reluctance of distributors to accept the possibility and responsibility of long term effects cautions me greatly. How can we believe that that these side effects do not occur and likely with some consistency? Look at all the other medications approved by the FDA that have been later recalled. And all the drastic side effects that come with so many medications. Many know the drill; you take a pill for an ailment and then have to take another pill to combat the side effects of the first and so on.

I am concerned that common sense has been thrown out the window in many situations. I could be mistaken but is the Hep B vaccine not routinely given to all newborns in the US? Again I could be mistaken but I don’t think too many newborns are sexually activity or are IV Drug users. I do understand that a few newborns may be at risk but does that necessitate injecting every baby???

Some concerns I have regarding the excessive and exuberant use of vaccinations: By bypassing several layers in the immune system and targeting the lower levels of immunity does this compromise our body’s natural long term health? Do we know what the vaccination does to the body at a cellular level? If vaccinations are contributing to an increase in auto immune illness and neurological disorganization is the trade off worth the benefits of immunity to many of these illness? While I certainly am thankful for the small pox vaccine, if it did indeed irradiate this illness, why are relatively healthy people concerned with flu, chicken pox? Are we such a quick fix society that taking off a few days for illness has become impossible for us? Are we becoming so lazy that eating healthy, exercising, etc. to build a strong immune system is beyond our ability? Can we say with 100% conviction that vaccinations are not part of the contributing components to the increase in the above mentioned concerns? Do vaccinations overall lower our body’s natural immune system opening us up to a host of other ailments? (This ties in with my previous concerns). Do vaccinations lower the gut health? (something like 70% of our immunity comes from our gut). And there is a connection between gut health and overall emotionally, physically and academically function so we don’t want to be messing around with the gut. Do scientists understand the immune system well enough to be so enthusiastically adding more and more to our regiment of vaccines? Do maternal vaccinations (vaccinations babies Mommy’s received throughout their lives ) provide newborns with the natural protection against illnesses that comes through placenta and colostrum and breast feeding?

With the rapid decline in our health, yes we are living longer but what is the quality of our life? Looking at the increase in auto immune illness alone suggests that we are becoming less healthy. The latest statistics revealed that one in four children have some form of neurological disorganization. ONE IN FOUR. I don’t believe that vaccinations alone are responsible for this abysmal statistic but possibly a contributing factor. Rather than arguing and bullying wouldn’t more effort into research be prudent? I guess I just feel like we would accomplish more by combining forces because ultimately I believe we want the same for our children. The decision to vaccinate or not is a very volatile topic and parents need to do their research and feel confident with the decision they make. I would never assume to want to persuade a parent one way or the other as I do not want to be responsible for possible outcomes later in life. But I do want my questions answered so we can make an intelligent decision and then be supported when side effects do occur.

The best article I’ve ever seen on the issues. You took the words right out of my mouth ( and all the referenced facts )

After several years investigating, initially from a neutral position, I have reached the same position you have. And for similar reasons to what you’ve stated, I also have started to go into bat to defend the bullied no vaxer / vax critical community.

They ( pro vaxers ) are not all bullies of course. There are many dedicated compassionate and caring health professionals out there who just happen to be embedded with a view that medical science, the research, the industry, the politics is infallible ( or variations on that ) because they love their work and ‘science’ in general.

Superb article. And I’m already out there pushing it for you and for all those who want to be heard and respected regarding these issues.

Megan what a terrific article. Informative, insightful, etc. I am an unvaccinated adult I have 3 unvaccinated children. The choice and conversations about it are never hard for me as I know without a doubt my children are healthier without vaccine. I myself have had chickenpox and German measles/rubella, both were merely a short lived illness little more then a rash. Yet with Rubella I was asked to self quarantine for 7 (?) Days while in college. If everyone is safely vaccinated why? No doubt this is due to my level of health with nutrition, hygiene and Chiropractic care for whole body health support.

In the comments and in your article there are still 3 things I often think about that weren’t answered. 1. No one I know who is vaccinated ever has titers checked? 2. One comment above referenced the NIH and FDA testing for safety. Every drug that has ever been recalled was first approved by the FDA, so my faith in that system is none. 3. Why are vaccines still recommended? I believe there is a financial motivator in our healthcare system to continue to recommend vaccines there is also the false sense of security that comes with it.

Again, why is my post not getting posted? Is there no freedom of speech here? I now have to assume that you didn’t post many more similar posts that do not agree with you! Would be something for my facebook page…
Ok, here comes my post again:

This article is SERIOUSLY FLAWED in its line of argument, very one-sided in its arguments, very bullying. There are so many mistakes, I don’t even know where to start and I personally don’t have the time to go through this whole lot of misunderstood (or unread?) scientific information here.
Lets just take the pertussis example: You wrongly take results found in an animal study (whose results suggests that acellular Pertussis vaccination induces a suboptimal immune response that is unable to prevent infection (Warfel et al. 2013)) and paste it onto humans. You wrongly re-post from a news source that the pertussis bacteria is becoming resistant to vaccines – it actually says that the bacteria lacked a key protein included in the pertussis vaccine – that is a whole different story! Furthermore, you leave out further important information from this news source just to mark your point, e.g. that most of the reported deaths were newborns and thus probably weren’t vaccinated yet. And yes, there is a thing called evolution. The pertussis bacteria evolve and change in the race for survival – these things happen – also without human interference.
This is just one of the many flaws in this article. I won’t go into all the others here…
So PEOPLE out there: Please educate yourself PROPERLY and read the SCIENTIFIC literature yourself and don’t believe in everything people have to say on their personal websites and blogs.
Furthermore, you say we “pro-vaxxers” bully you and lie to you and scare you but you “anti-vaxxers/pro-choicers/whatever” are doing the same in their articles. So don’t complain if pro-vaxxers write about their point of view and about what they read out of all the scientific studies about vaccinations. So you are stating you can write whatever about why not getting vaccinated and scare the hell out of people with your long list of possible adverse effects that you don’t even write in how many cases in a population they occur (very serious flaw!) but you don’t allow others to write about why you should get vaccinated and what it can cause if you don’t??? SERIOUSLY?

I am sorry your comment was not posted sooner. As per your reference to the pertussis study, baboons are considered the most human-like model for studying whooping cough. Would it be more ethical to do this study in small children? In this post and the preceding posts there are many references to scholarly journals, peer-reviewed studies, CDC/MMWR data, and even the vaccine inserts. I never recommend that people take what I say at face value and I post the links to encourage them to further explore the topic. As for your perception of people who don’t vaccinate (or “anti vaxxers” as you call them) I am sorry if anyone has exhibited the same behavior to you that I referenced coming from the other side in my post. I am not sure how someone pro vaccine could possibly be bullied by their physician or experience the hate in the media but let me assure you, I for one will not exhibit that behavior towards anyone…pro vaccine or not and I think that’s quite clear from my style of writing as exhibited in this and my other posts. Let me apologize to you on their behalf for any ill behavior you have received.

Thank you so much! I have been having this conversation in my head forever!!! The more I keep seeing the “You’re being lied to” piece pop up in my FB news feed the more angry my argument has become!! The idea that parents concerned about vaccines have done little research and are just following the lead of Jenny McCarthy is so ludicrous! In reality, most parents I know that vaccinate (and that is most) have done very little research other than believing their Dr’s when they say they are “safe and effective” and those that don’t usually have taken much more time to do some research. I’m not anti-vaccine but I am pro educate yourself!!!

They still recieved single measles vaccinations, each vaccination has the risk to cause brain damage, my issue is not that I think they ’cause’ autism, but that any vaccination ‘can potentially’ increase the risk of brain damage amongst other damages. It would of been more proof that vaccinations did not lead to autism if they had stopped vaccination completely, expecially the single measles vaccination.

Rich abd Alicia. One of you asks for reliable dafae, pointing out that a study published in 1933 showed herd immunity was effective after 68% were immune. Are there any more recent studies?
Rich, your denial of measles as a deadly disease is relevant only to whateve developed country you live in. Since you’ve done your research, you should tell us how many die globally from this disease.

Why would global data matter? We don’t live in Africa, we live in America. The living conditions are not the same. Do you think if we got rid of all of our infrastructure and adopted the standards of livings of some of Africa’s most poor nations but kept our vaccines that we would not see mortality rates spike?

Thank you, Megan for sharing your informative thoughts. Your thoughts have been my thoughts for a long time! But I have to be quiet about the knowledge I have. I have watched the world change in health levels of children because of the overuse of vaccines. Common sense can show anyone that something bad is happening to the health of our children. I have been a questioning parent of vaccines for over 32 years. I have studied and studied and I truly believe that ignorance is a powerful leader in the parenting world. As a young parent in the 80’s, it was bothersome to me that the medical community would make you vaccinate or your parenting was questioned. And when I was a young parent the fear of Autism was not even talked about. The long list of injuries were not talked about, but they were in the lovely little pamphlet that you received. The fears were there and you had to sign away that no one was responsible if your healthy child got sick from the vaccine. But in the early 80’s, the ridiculous amount of chemicals injected was a lot less than they inject now, and back then parents were not questioning as much as they are now. It is a good thing to ask questions…. Every parent should make their vaccination decision from the facts from both sides. Every parents should not be blind to the harm the “good” can cause. I am so thankful someone presented the facts to me so many years ago. It is so sad when parents are not aware of both sides and are forcefully told the “seller’s” side. I am a parent of six children; the first three received vaccinations and the last three did not. Well, the first three are considered “healthy” to the world’s standards, but they endured many more childhood illnesses, allergies, etc. than their unvaccinated siblings. Truthfully, their immune systems were weakened….. and that opens a door to a future of many dangerous possibilities. I can see the difference in the health levels of my vaccinated and unvaccinated and there is no debate as to which was the wiser choice for my children’s health. I wish my first three had not received any vaccinations. I have lived the research, seen it and am not blind to the facts in my personal experience. Parents, build a healthy immune system in your children and do not weaken it with chemicals and such! Parents, do not live on the food of fear, but be brave and look into both sides with a honest and healthy agenda in mind for your children. Don’t be lead around by those who wear white coats and have big degrees; they are not smarter than you for the care of your children. Yes, they may have an expertise that you do not have in medical matter beyond the “normal”. I appreciate the medical experts for those extremes in life that need extra knowledge. Doctors should bring health to us, not take it away. I am thankful for the medical personal who learn to help and make a difference. We will always need them. But, the parents should be in charge and be full of knowledge to keep their children healthy in body and soul. ( ….. I will get off my soapbox now….LOL)

Thanks for this article. If I see one more FB post about Measles Outbreak I am going to freak. Thanks for articulating what is on a lot of parents minds. Thanks for your bravery and your eloquent words.

I have pretty nasty adult ADD and so I’m terrible at arguing my case… I end up getting emotional and giving up, which makes defending myself against hateful pro-vaxxers impossible. I may not be able to express myself to others the way I’d like to, but bloggers like you give me a lot more confidence and a sense of solidarity sans the nuttiness I see in some other non-vax arenas.

I said to my peers several years ago that for this topic to get this “hot” it meant something else was going on as well. As you pointed out its only grown more polarized and heated and seriously troubling.

This topic is not one that can be studied in a lab with double blind procedures. Since we are talking about medical procedures conducted on (mostly) children we need to be careful and go slowly. We “don’t” know everything there is to know about our body, mind, biochemistry etc. and the rate vaccinations have gone from “Hey try this” to “You are evil if you don’t” raises all sorts of red flags.

Forget “Where’s the research?” and “Your research is flawed!” arguments – they are tired and redundant and thrown out there like bread crumbs in front of pigeons. Medical trends, politicians and yes, even scientific theories have been wrong before so excuse me if I don’t fall in line with the current vaccination mania.

Your articles are well written Megan and keep the faith that others (like me) share your position!Leslie recently posted…Silver Fillings a no no

Allow me, if you will, to comment on a few parts of this article one at a time:

“I am a parent. Some people believe that parents can’t make an educated decision on this issue, that you should check all of your questions and reservations about vaccinating at the door and trust your physician, that is unless your physician also questions vaccines (or supports a delayed schedule), then he’s a quack.”

-Questioning things is fine; in fact, I am all about questioning everything. However, saying that an expert in a field that you have no education or basis for understanding is flat out wrong is generally not advisable. I have no formal background in engineering, so I may want to build a bridge out of aluminum or pewter. I know that these metals are cheap, available, and fairly strong, however an expert that knows more about these things would tell me that these are horrible metals to use for my project. Questioning their experience, scientifically tested knowledge, and overall expertise won’t make my aluminum bridge not fall down in a short period of time.

“They passed their licensing boards like all of the other doctors, many have the prestigious “M.D” behind their names too, but because they read the research and came to a different conclusion and had the guts to say so, they’re stance is somehow less credible?”

-Do you know what they call a medical student that graduates at the bottom of the class? Doctor.
Just because someone has a degree doesn’t make them smart. Having the ability to properly interpret data makes someone smart.

“Speaking of bullies, stop showing us pictures of sick children, telling us that there’s no link between MMR and autism, or telling us dramatic narratives of an “infant who almost died of measles.”

-But, these are factual things. I am sorry that true and provable events run contrary to the narrative you wish to portray.

“As if mothers didn’t have enough things to be divided over, you’ve made it so that wherever we go be it daycares, schools, or playgroups we are ridiculed, judged, shunned, and our children as a whole are blamed for the re-emergence of diseases that never left and for spreading diseases they’ve never had.”

-Once again, the fact that there has been a resurgence of diseases that were eradicated or nearly eradicated within the US is factually verifiable. These outbreaks are generally found in areas that have a high incidence of un-vaccinated individuals. If anything, the fact that these diseases have re-emerged in this country so quickly shows the importance of proper vaccinations.

“In our society we’re taught, told, and sometimes forced to be tolerant of other religions, races, and minority groups, people of different sexual orientations, women in the work place, and of a woman’s right to choose.”

-None of these things have the ability to increase the morbidity or mortality of everyone around you.

“I’m so glad everyone has discovered that the whole “your unvaccinated kid is a risk to my vaccinated kid” argument is extremely flawed if one believe vaccines actually work; but now we’re being blamed for putting those who can’t be vaccinated at risk?”

-This statement simply shows a blatant lack of understanding about vaccines and how they work.

“So let me get this straight, we’re being told that our unvaccinated children are a risk to the immunocompromised when the CDC states that inactive vaccines aren’t a danger AND that the immunocompromised should get vaccinated with higher doses and more frequent boosters than the rest of the population? ”

– vaccines =/= active infections.

“And what if everyone is vaccinated – how do you know if the vaccine was effective at inducing immunity or when it wears off?”

-Seriously?? If you want to do constant titer checks, that is fine, but well before any medicine is brought to market it has to undergo rigorous testing, which includes determining its effectiveness as well as its average effective lifespan. That is how we know that you have to have boosters of certain things as an adult.

“Please stop telling people vaccine injuries are rare and brushing off individuals who have suffered vaccine injuries.”

-Once again, see the provable facts. Most vaccines (probably all, but I am sure there are a few uncommon ones out there that buck this trend) have the same incidents of side effects as placebos. This means that the same number of people get symptom X whether they had vaccination Y or not. Therefore, you cannot link symptom X to vaccine Y.

“Conditions we consider “normal” like ear infections, food allergies, and eczema were unheard of in the days of our grandparents.”

-Unreported =/= non-existant. Also, many things have changed in the past 50-100 years, so we can’t say that any increases in these things are caused by any one factor.

“I am not part of the “herd” and neither are you.”

-In terms of this conversation, the word “herd” refers to all individuals living in an area. If you live in the US, you are part of “the herd”. Also, the rest of that paragraph shows more of a lack of understanding about vaccinations.

” Oh I know, you reviewed the results of the comprehensive study that’s never been done comparing rates of autism in the unvaccinated versus vaccinated population.”

-These studies have been done. The reason why a longer-term study on this topic has not been conducted is because there are far too many confounds (eg, the standards to diagnose autism have changed over time).

“I hate to point out the obvious but the AMA has only been around since 1847. Before that, there were homeopathic physicians/doctors (1789) homeopathic hospitals (1825), and the establishment of the American Institute of Homeopathy in (1841). ”

-Go ahead and look up death rates and causes in the early 1800s and compare them to today.

Bob, I’m sorry but we’re going to have to disagree on this one. I wish I had time to address your entire comment but I already wrote several posts on these subjects. Physicians have licensing standards they have to pass to test their competency and efficiency over what they learn – if their knowledge of the material is not up to par they won’t pass their boards and won’t be licensed. I am not saying all physicians have excellent clinical skills or have “common sense, that is subjective; but to assume that all physicians who question vaccines lack intelligence is highly inaccurate.

Showing pictures of “sick children” is an emotional argument and is part of the propaganda campaign. It is also subjective and key facts are always left out (like that the child didn’t have a spleen or that the illness was vaccine-strain, or that the outbreak occurred in an almost exclusively vaccinated population) and it is always assumed that a vaccine would have prevented such an occurrence which is not true if you’ve read the research as vaccines often cause the diseases they are deigned to prevent and only provide temporary immunity if any. Vaccination is not synonymous with immunization. In addition, if we’re calling this “fact” then why are the stories of vaccine-injured children dismissed and why are they not given the same air time? Why not keep it objective?

Citations to that are in this post and my previous posts. The “placebos” you are referring to are adjuvants in the vaccines or vaccines with “known safety profiles” they are NOT saline placebos or inert substances…BIG…HUGE difference. You can’t test a vaccine against an additive contained in it and expect to get accurate safety data. You also can’t chalk up the INSANE rise in chronic disease to better diagnostic methods. We (as people who do not vaccinate) are always told to ask the “older generation” about these “vaccine preventable diseases.” Well it works both ways, ask the older generation about the diseases we experience today. You can’t tell people to talk to a grandparent when it suits you and discount that testimony when it doesn’t (not referring to you specifically but the pro-vaccine side of the debate in general).

The AMA did not eradicate disease nor did vaccines. Please check the incidence and mortality charts in MMWR and plug in the year of licensure for that one. You’ll find references to those charts in my prior posts if you need them. There have been ZERO comprehensive studies done in the United States comparing unvaccinated to vaccinated children – if you know of one we’re all missing please share.

As far as your last statement, according to the research the opposite is true. Please check out the data on the pertussis vaccine specifically and read up on live-virus vaccines…all of which shed. If YOUR child is vaccinated than you have nothing to worry about right? And finally, germs only live in environments conducive to their growth – vaccines do not improve the terrain as far as the “germ theory” is concerned. There are safer and more effective ways of prevention. Please avoid the assumption that our children could kill or hurt your child…it is simply not true and entirely unsubstantiated.

I wish I could go into more detail on these subjects but for the sake of time I can’t. Suffice it to say that I respectfully disagree.

Bob –
You can get all the vaccines you want. Have mine. Vaccinate your children. Vaccinate your grandchildren if you have any. Voices for Vaccines is so very fond of saying “your right to swing your fist ends at my nose”, which I assume implies that my right not to vaccinate ends at your right not to be harmed. Well,your right to swing your shots ends at my arm and my grandchild’s arm.

Mother of 4 severely vaccine-injured adult children
Grandmother of 1 very very healthy unvaccinated granddaughter

Very informative. I had no idea vaccines cause ear infections and eczema. My boy started getting SEVERE ear infections so bad his ear drum burst seveal times starting at age 3 and he ended up with ear tubes at age 5. He also got SEVERE eczema at age 4 with no end in sight and he is almost 8. Interesting those things started after he had received the majority of his vaccines and that no doctor I saw told me there was a connection.

Educate before you choose a new doctor. Educate before you take Tylenol, aspirin, ibuprofen, antibiotics, chemotherapy or radiation. Educate before you use “natural” remedies. Educate yourself before you have children.Educate yourself about how to provide for your children, how to teach them to be safe, how to discuss growing up and body changes, protecting themselves if they become sexually active, drugs and alcohol and how to be confident. Educate yourself about the neighborhood you want to move too. Educate yourself about potential registered sex offenders that may live close to you. Educate yourself before you choose not vaccinate. Educate yourself about disease and how the risks. Educate yourself about potential risks of trying new medications and your possible risk of an allergic reaction. .. the list could go on forever…

I couldn’t agree more. With all of it, including (believe it or not) that bit about educating yourself before choosing not to vaccinate. However, if you delay long enough to educate yourself, and even if you do decide not to vaccinate, you can always change your mind later if something comes up to convince you otherwise. Not so if you just go along with the regular vaccination schedule. Once it’s done, it can’t be undone. Something to keep in mind.

Those that choose to put their child at risk for reactions to a vaccine listed on the insert have that choice. They are not bullied or berated by those that believe that choice borders on child endangerment. All they ask us that you educate before you vaccinate… Don’t follow anything blindly.

I honestly think that the biggest problem with the whole vaccination debate (besides the bullying element) is that, regardless of where you get your information from, it’s all biased in one direction or the other. Very little of what is published nowadays tells the full truth, but only enough of it to slant the overall study or article to make it sound as if their side is the truth. In truth, it’s impossible to know WHICH side to believe, which is what leads to people being on both sides of the fence. You can always find enough “legitimate” information for either side to fully justify which choice you make.

I chose to vaccinate my two daughters, and did not see any negative effects beyond a slight fever on occasion. I do have an issue with those who don’t vaccinate, because I believe in the concept of “herd immunity,” and think that has an effect on everyone. I do not, however, condemn other mothers for making that choice, regardless of whether I agree with them. Me not agreeing with them or keeping my kids away from theirs will not change the situation anyway.

It would be nice, since there is so much debate and controversy about this, for both sides to work together to come up with a conclusive study agreed on by both sides to prove it once and for all either way. Unfortunately, I can’t see that ever happening, so the polarized debate will likely continue unabated.

Yes! I couldn’t have said it better myself. I vaccinated my daughter and am now pregnant with a boy and I’m doing more research since I was so new to it all the first time around. And you’re completely right-how do I know who is “right” when I can see the benefits of both sides. So frustrating! I’m really trying to educate myself this time around and I feel more lost than I did before.

I don’t want to speak to anyone else, but I imagine the worry comes from having a baby who has not yet been vaccinated because they are too young, coming into contact with an older, unvaccinated child.
And I am all about people making informed decisions, but I would be interested in hearing from someone who contracted polio as a child be thankful they weren’t vaccinated against it.

Lauren, babies get antibodies from their mothers…or they used to (check out the herd immunity picture on my post). Babies are at risk of contracting the following from the vaccinated population: pertussis (asymptomatic carrier), and measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, and influenza from live-virus vaccine shedding. If vaccinated for rotovirus they are susceptible to that as well. I actually do have someone you can talk to who had polio and does not support vaccinations. There is also an entire generation of individuals who now have cancer as a result of contaminated Salk vaccines and people who experienced vaccine induced paralytic polio as a result of being vaccinated. Dr. Suzanne Humphries has a great lecture on POLIO, DDT toxicity (which actually mimicked polio) and the vaccine campaign. It’s on YouTube. Highly recommend.

Thank you for such a straightforward article. The truth is those who choose to vaccinate and put their child at risk for those written in the insert is their choice. Those that believe that choice borders on child endangerment do not bully or berate them. All they ask is that you educate before you vaccinate.

I used to not care one or the other to whether people vaccinate their children. I did have mine vaccinated though. Now that I have decided to go back to school and have taken some pretty in depth courses on Microbiology and Anatomy Physiology, there is no reason not to vaccinate your children. The reason for vaccinations is not to harm your children or cause you harm, it’s to protect us and hopefully eradicate these awful diseases. I bet the same people who aren’t vaccinating their children would blame the government if an awful epidemic of some new disease came and wiped out your entire family and the government had done nothing to protect you from it. If you go back in time to say the ages of the Black Plague, it was not uncommon for entire villages to have been wiped out from this disease. Go back to the early 1900’s when the flu came and wiped out millions of people. Vaccines have not been around for hundreds of years. The first antibiotic was not around until the early 1950’s. And if you knew what those guys had to go through to get it here, it is unbelievable. Reading a few articles on the internet does not make you educated. Nor does reading a couple of books. I personally have studied this and will be going into greater depth in the next couple of years. You are making a decision for your child. This tiny, little person depends on you to make the right one. It’s not his or her choice but yours. And to me, vaccinating my child was right to protect them from disease. So he has a chance to grow up and doesn’t have to experience measles, mumps, whooping cough, or any of the other toxic things that can kill him. You will regret it if you have to watch your child from a disease that could have easily been prevented because you read and article on the internet and considered yourself informed.

Thank you so much for writing this. You really took the time to address each specific issue that has been addressed or used at all in the vaccine debate and it’s something everyone who has an opinion on the matter needs to read.

Despite its aesthetic appeal and that it’s well-written, there’s enough blatantly incorrect information in this article that it should not be taken as truth…

“We traded in chicken pox for shingles” – They are the SAME virus, Shingles is a recurrence during typically stressful times during adulthood. After a chicken pox infection, the virus remains in your nervous system indefinitely, you are not getting re-infected, it’s getting re-activated.

“Almost all people with mumps fully recover after a few weeks” – This may be true but it’s ignoring the significant amount of long-term complications that can arise after a mumps infection. Most notably hearing-loss which affects ~4% of those infected and becomes permanent in ~1 in 20,000… A BIG deal for an infection that doesn’t need to happen.

Dave, getting vaccinated with chicken pox increases one’s chances of getting shingles as an adult. My statement did not insinuate they were different viruses. You could get a horrible side-effect from any disease vaccinated or not but the chance of having an adverse reaction to MMR outweighs the chance you would actually get mumps AND that you would actually have a negative side effect. All of these vaccinated college students experiencing mumps now could have had it as children and recovered relatively well, but they were vaccinated with a vaccine that does not provide lifetime immunity and now they’re being exposed to mumps as adults which carries much greater risks.

Yes, Dave, we KNOW shingles and chicken pox are the same virus. Duh! I also know that contracting chicken pox does not stop you getting it, or shingles in the future. If the real thing doesn’t provide immunity, then a faked up mix of bits of virus and who knows what else isn’t going to provide protection.

I don’t judge either way. I just want to be informed. I don’t think we should waste our time with finger pointing and blaming one side or the other. I have spent 7 years looking to prove either way, the safety and necessity of vaccines, and being in college most that time with degrees related to health, science, and nursing while working in a clinical setting, I have seen, read, and heard a lot. I have done my own research looking for answers to whether or not vaccines and their ingredients are safe. That’s all I want is to be shown that they are SAFE. But, in my search for the proof, all I have found is either the scientific proof that backs up the point of injury induced from vaccines, or a point that uses false argument tactics to persuade to vaccinate to prevent my child and others from catching these horrible, debilitating childhood illnesses(with no proof, but a scare tactic(which by the way is a false argument). Think about this for a minute, we inject an infant who triples their weight in the first year(including the brain growth rate), and then after infancy, the growth rate goes down, but is still a high. In early childhood, 49 vaccines (I think were up to now?) just seems overwhelming when you look at all the side effects, documented and settled cases of vaccine injury based on VAERS system, number of children now with food and environmental allergies, asthma, auto-immune disorders, and autism-like symptoms(very broad spectrum spanning from attention disorders to pure brain damage related symptoms ). Here is an article I was just reading today about a study of infants and related symptoms post multi-dose and single dose vaccines, and how vaccines are indeed able to cross the blood-brain barrier(not many drugs and outside elements can cross this barrier due to the bodies need to try to keep toxins, bacteria, etc. out of this very sensitive area). And therefore, the article shows the results ranging from edema in the brain to cardio-respiratory problems( which lack of sufficient oxygen being transported to tissues in the body and the brain leads to cell death/damage). And also, edema to the central nervous system and brain, inflammation of the brain, and lack of oxygen to the brain are all contributing factors which lead to neuron cell death/damage, and vaccines can cause these symptoms. And since the brain still baffles scientists to this day, and so much research still needs to be done in regards to the brain and being able to understand diseases and disorders of it, just proves we don’t understand enough to prove safety. In fact, proof through studies, scholarly research, peer reviewed articles, and the basic understanding of people who have seen first hand damage from a vaccine is showing through. People seem to be trained and brainwashed through greed, government officials, and media And just remember who controls our media?? Who is in Washington everyday paying millions of dollars to get the chance to push products, bills, laws for their benefit to make more money–>pharm companies. What companies are allowed in the U.S. to advertise in a stalking manner to the public(via commercials) and doctors(stalking them in their work places to take their products and give to patients). I could keep on the trail here of linking the puzzles pieces together, but I’m stopping for now. In all seriousness though, I would love for someone to prove me wrong through evidence based facts. And not facts about childhood preventable illnesses themselves, Jenny McCarthy, or the ONE debunked, liar of scientist that lied on his results of vaccines many years ago. These are not credible. Show me something credible, please..

Whether you vaccinate your children or not is your own affair. We don’t have mandatory vaccination in the UK and I would not want it. Education is always better. I have to comment on the inaccuacy of your article. The link between MMR vaccine has been disproven. The research findings could not be replicated and the Dr who published them was struck off by the GMC in the UK.

Vaccines are produced because the morbidity and mortality of these diseases make it neccessary to do so. Measles can cause death, brain damage and deafness. Chicken pox can be fatal in some cases. . Rubella can cause brain damage and deafness if caught in pregnancy. Your reference source quoted that there were no measles cases in the USA in the year 2000 but cases had risen from that level, due to vaccination levels falling. If vaccination stopped completely the levels of all these serious diseases would rise steeply. It would not be years before a measles death but weeks and many more would follow.

Vaccinations have saved countless lives. The disease of smallpox has been eradicated. if still active 2 million peoplw would still be dying from it each year and countless more scarred or blinded. Polio left people on respiratory supportt in the old iron lungs of post war wards.

Finally I can assure you that people had epilepsy in the days of our Grandparents and for thousands of yeears before eg Alexander the Great, The Apostle Paul. There were epilepsy colonies or they went into poor houses. Other diseases were also around, although maybe not recognised under todays names, and allergies and allergic diseases do seem to have increased.

Due to modern medicine the average lifespan has gone up from mid forties at the end of the 19th century in the UK to the mid eighties today with thousands more people reaching their centenary.
Thank goodness for modern medicine, Drs and the NHS in the UK!

“The research findings could not be replicated and the Dr who published them was struck off by the GMC in the UK. ”

His partner Professor John Walker-Smith won his appeal against the GMC’s decision, the GMC panel had nothing to do with the veracity of the Lancet study, the MMR or autism and there have been many studies replicating parts of that Lancet study.

“Measles can cause death, brain damage and deafness.”

We have data from the UK’s NHS online and since 1992 there have been over 150,000 reported cases of measles in the UK and over 15,000 lab confirmed cases with not a single death in a child.

“Vaccinations have saved countless lives. ”

Do you think if we went back to the living conditions of 1750 that mortality rates woudln’t shoot through the roof? Mortality rates of almost all VPDs were in decline years and years before vaccination first began.

“Thank goodness for modern medicine, Drs and the NHS in the UK!”

Thank goodness for clean, treated running water, flushing toilets, sewage treatment plants and proper food handling in the UK! To claim that huge changes in life expectancy are the result of doctors and vaccinations is absurd.

Thank you for your reply. Dr Wakefield, lead author of the paper linking the MMR vaccine and autism retracted the paper 12 years after publishing after the longest Fitness to Practice Hearing in the General Medical Council’s History. The paper was subject to forensic dissection and found to be fatally flawed both scientifically and ethically. The results could not be reproduced.

Since 1996 in England alone there has beeen 15,000 confirmed cases of measles. The cases for the other nations in the UK will be recorded separately with their own administrations. The most is a recent high of 2000 and a low of 56. There was a measles outbreak last year. This was blamed on low vaccination uptake following the Wakefield paper.

Vaccinations have saved countless lives. The low levels of measles in the Uk and maybe one death in Wales due to measles last year shows containment of the disease. I am sure 2 million people will be happy not to die of smallpox this year.

I made the points about modern medicine to point out the successes of modern medicine as compared to homeopathy in the article. I am quite happy with modern medicine and would much rather use that than homeopathy. Modern medicine, while not perfect has done much good.

Yes I would agree with you about the other things also contributing but those were not in the article. Most of what you state enviromentally were in place in the UK by the 1960s but life expectancy has continued to rise.

It is also impolite and bad practice to refer to anothers opinion as absurd.

You are incorrect, Dr. Wakefield, one of 12 authors, did not retract the paper. None of other 11 authors retracted the paper either, they redacted an interpretation of the data. None of the 12 authors have ever stated the data was fraudulent, and the GMC trial had nothing to do with scientific flaws. The GMC trial was solely to do with failure to attain ethics committee approval and the panel had to decide whether the tests done were indicated (which co-defender Professor John Walker-Smith, UK’s leading pediatric gastroenterologist at the time, said they were) for treatment or solely ordered for research. They concluded the latter. Professor John Walker-Smith won his appeal against that decidsion in January 2012 where Justice Mitting lambasted the GMC’s fitness to practice procedures. The 5-man panel that felt they knew more about gastroenterology than Walker-Smith was comprised of an adult psychiatrist, a geriatrician, a general practitioner and 2 laypersons.

The person that retracted the paper was Elsevier CEO Sir Crispin Davis. At the time he retracted the paper he was also making 70,000 pounds a year in a non-executive director position on the board of GlaxoSmithKline, manufacturers of the MMR vaccine in the UK.

The investigation into Wakefield that was done by a journalist Brian Deer was funded by The Sunday Times. The owner at the time was Rupert Murdoch’s son James. At the time he funded the investigation into Wakefield, James Murdoch was also making 70,000 pounds a year in a non-executive director position on the board of GlaxoSmithKline, manufacturers of the MMR vaccine in the UK.

The measles outbreak last year was blamed on low vaccination rates, yet according to the BBC the coverage rate for Wales was 98%. Does that sound low to you? One person died but measles was not the primary cause of death, given he was sent home from the hospital who couldn’t even recognize he had measles, I’d say the hospital’s gross negligence was the primary cause of death.

The 100m world record has also continued to be beaten since the 1960s, should be attribute that to vaccinations also?

I never thought that the vaccine debate was such a big deal until coming to college. I was studying nursing, but have switched to community health. I have taken anatomy, physiology, microbiology, etc., and I have learned that vaccinating your children is probably in your child’s best interest.
Money and “propaganda” aside- vaccines work because introducing a disease in an inactive state allows your immune system to recognize the disease, produce antibodies against it, and prepare itself if the body comes in contact with the disease again. People have been using vaccines for hundreds of years.
Vaccines do not lead to autism. Autism is something the child is born with. In fact, the doctor who told Jenny McCarthy that vaccines can cause autism has had his credentials taken away because it was unverified/false information.
As for other side effects, you are more likely to become severely ill and possibly die from the disease than you are to have one of those reactions. Years and years of research have made vaccines much safer than they were in the past.
I do believe that saying that your unvaccinated child isn’t a threat to others is just rude. Unvaccinated people can carry a wide variety of diseases that can harm people, like babies who aren’t old enough to get theirs, those who are sick and can’t get a vaccine due to their disease, elderly, and those with weak immune systems. Although I have been vaccinated, I have a weak immune system because of my anemia. I always get a flu shot, but even then I have picked it up from someone who didn’t get theirs. I know that I shouldn’t hold the other person responsible because of my weak system, but the world would be so much easier if every one took precaution to prevent harmful diseases.

I understand that it is a parents right to decide whether or not to vaccinate their children. I fully understand that, and I don’t believe that families should be bullied about their decision, but at the same time you have to understand that it isn’t just your child that is affected by this decision, it is everyone around them too.

Not quite, around 100 years, but not “hundreds”. What was the vaccine schedule in 1950 vs. today? What was happening a hundred years ago? We have the bookkeeping done by JT Biggs who was on Leicester’s sanitation council for 22 years during the years they attempted to mandate smallpox vaccine, before and after. His records show that there were massive spikes in mortality rates during the periods they attempted to mandate smallpox vaccines. The history of vaccinations is horrible. JT Biggs records are here – http://www.archive.org/stream/leicestersanitat00biggrich#page/n7/mode/2up

“Vaccines do not lead to autism”

There has never been a controlled study comparing rates of autism between vaccinated and unvaccinated children, this statement is devoid of scientific integrity.

“In fact, the doctor who told Jenny McCarthy that vaccines can cause autism has had his credentials taken away because it was unverified/false information.”

Absolute nonsense. Dr. Andrew Wakefield was struck off the register in the UK because a 5-man panel at a GMC fitness to practice trial comprising an adult psychiatrist, a geriatrician, a general practitioner and 2 laypersons concluded that the tests that were ordered on the patients were not indicated, they disagreed with Professor John Walker-Smith who was a pediatric gastroenterologist that they were indicated for treatment. Walker-Smith won his appeal, Wakefield no longer lives in the UK and has no desire to appeal. Not one single other author of the original 1998 Lancet study has ever said that the study was fraudulent.

“Unvaccinated people can carry a wide variety of diseases that can harm people, like babies who aren’t old enough to get theirs”

Most data shows us that it’s vaccinated people who are more likely to spread pertussis due to over-confidence in the efficacy of the vaccine, which wanes by 36% annually.

“I always get a flu shot, but even then I have picked it up from someone who didn’t get theirs.”

Most likely because the flu shot only prevents influenza in 1 out of every 100 people who receive it according to the Cochrane Collaborations most up to date analysis of flu RCTs.

Yes, many of the treatments today were originally formulated in the 1950s, but forms of vaccination and inoculation have been around since 1000 BC. They would take scabs from those with smallpox, grind them into a powder, and have those who weren’t suffering from it inhale the powder. Primitive, but it worked. In 1796, it was discovered that inoculating someone with a form of cowpox could prevent them from getting smallpox.
So I guess you are right; vaccination hasn’t been around for hundreds of years. Its been around for thousands.

I’m not saying that the road to get to where we are now hasn’t been difficult. They had to try the newer vaccines on people to see if they worked and unfortunately some people died from the testing. My point is that forms of vaccination have been around for THOUSANDS of years and have proven themselves beneficial many times.

Not to mention, when those who are not vaccinated come into contact with others who carry the diseases, hold the tendency to mutate the disease and therefore, can counteract with the vaccination. Diseases are constantly mutating and exposing those that are immune to the diseases to the carriers, poses a threat to those who took precautions. The vaccinations will have to “re-vamp” to fight off the mutations or will be rendered ineffective.

What? Do you have any reliable sources at all for that illogical argument that the unvaccinated are causing the diseases to mutate? Things mutate to adapt, over-vaccination would cause mutation if adaptation to survive where the goal, not unvaccination.

Diseases that hop from person to person will mutate and become stronger and more resistant to medicine, that’s just their nature. If everyone is vaccinated against a disease, it is much harder for it to move around and mutate. I recommend you take the time to learn basic microbiology before you accuse people of being wrong.

Funny how we’re blamed for the outbreaks of diseases that never left. According to the CDC there were 222 cases of measles in 2011 (35-56% of which occurred in the vaccinated population), 54 in 2012, and 189 in 2013. As of April 10, 2014 there have only been 108 confirmed cases of measles. According to the CDC, measles isn’t a “deadly disease” it is “an illness characterized by a generalized rash lasting ≥3 days, a temperature of ≥101°F [≥38.3°C], and cough, coryza, or conjunctivitis.”

Thank you for posting this. I’m 3 weeks due to have my first, and I’m SO scared and worried of getting everything ready for my little one. Any prayers appreciated for me next week when I have meetings with pediatricians and day cares

I’m not anti-vax, but I’m not a lemming either. I’ve had doctors prescribe me medications that caused me to become suicidal (and based on what was going on, I NEVER should have been on them in the first place), and I also got shingles last year at the age of 30 (and was otherwise in good health), so no, I’m not going to take everything a doctor tells me as the gospel truth. I’m going to look at everything from both perspectives and make an informed decision.

As my sister once said (on a different topic), “We’re never going to agree on controversial topics – look at how hard it can be to agree on pizza toppings!” Sometimes, we just have to agree to disagree and move on.

If you have a good doctor you don’t need a pediatrician. People in America (not saying you) seem obsessed with pediatricians for children, but your family doctor will play the same role and is far less likely to have a tyrannical stance on vaccines…because most of your pediatricians business will depend on whether or not you’re vaccinating. If your child is healthy, the doctor isn’t seen.

Umm, do you have any reliable sources for claiming that a pediatrician’s business is mostly from vaccinations? Gosh, I would think they might make a bit more from the $120 office visits. (They don’t charge an office visit for a vaccination).

Well said! My husband and I confidently had our 15 year old daughter vaccinated, until she got a severe fever less than 48 hours afterwards, developed neurological symptoms over the next few months, until she completely shut down. For 18 months, she slowly recovered, but has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. I don’t think she’s autistic. I think she is damaged. We made a mistake. We believed our doctor when he told us vaccines are safe. Before we did our research, and learned otherwise, doctors would not vaccinate without parental consent, now our children are being vaccinated without consent, or notification. I think it’s criminal. I have complete respect for all parents whatever their decision is, but don’t tell me vaccines are safe, not for everyone.

Every parent has a choice whether or not to immunize their child. There are 2 sides to every debate with research going both ways. I chose to immunize my children and I would never criticize anyone who decided not to because it’s your child and your choice. My cousin doesn’t immunize her kids and our kids played together and I never even had a second thought about it. Everyone has the right to choose.

Thank you for this! To touch upon a previous comment that spoke about the fact that you said that you educated yourself and that *may* insinuate that someone who vaccinates isn’t educated…the problem is that many people who vaccinate were not given ANY informed consent and many (based on what I’ve seen/heard from people who choose to vaccinate) do so because their doctor advised that they vaccinate and not because they’ve researched vaccines themselves — if you researched thoroughly and choose to vaccinate then that is your perogative, but many people don’t research and don’t educate themselves and that’s why it is insulting when someone who takes the time to educate themselves — and then makes the decision not to vaccinate — is labeled as “uneducated”

“Oh I know, you reviewed the results of the comprehensive study that’s never been done comparing rates of autism in the unvaccinated versus vaccinated population.”

That’s brilliant, great article overall but this one had me chuckling. Vaccines are the single biggest propaganda success story of the last two centuries. No subject has more people utterly confused and regurgitating mainstream media myths than vaccinations. It’s the hardest nut to crack, BUT…it IS cracking more and more.

The US is where it’s worst, and not surprisingly is the same country where pharmaceutical companies hold the most control over both the government and the media.

the word bully is right on.. the doctors who vaccinate make a lot of money doing so and so do the drug company’s.

the biggest one that scars me now is the one for chicken pocks.. if a little boy gets one, by the time the next one is due, he is still living at home and mom can get him another, but when that one wears off, he may be in college or workforce and out of mom and dads house.. will he remember he needs this kind of thing.. most likely NO.. now as an adult man getting them chicken pocks is so dangerous..
my question is why not let them just get infected when they are young and get it over with?

Thank you, so much Mid March I could not handle Facebook anymore every day I was seeing “friends” call out all the idiots who have not immunized their children. Using Jenny McCarthy as our leader. 19 years ago I made the choice after being pressured by the health nurse to immunize (whooping cough is going to kill your child) not to immunize. My daughter went through public school just fine. Never has had one ailment (knock on wood).
In Canada we had a website (I can not find it anymore) that would tell us the ingredients of each vaccination, when it was released, recalls, and why it was pulled. The site also used to show the studies side effects on each vaccination. That was so useful in later years. Last week I saw a acrticle in the paper “outting” a bunch of Alberta professionals as anti health/ pro disease, it was brutal, mocking their business. My daughter was constantly told by other students that she would die if she didn’t get a vaccination. The last one she was harassed about was Gardasil. It was surprising to me my daughter knew more about it in all aspects than any of the students standing in line receiving the shot. My partner often states that it reminds him of the George Orwell’s 1984 book they way society is about it. Thank you for speaking up!

I disagree that vaccines don’t work. A basic understanding of immunology shows that they do, since they mimic natural exposure and you only need to see the effect vaccination programs in developing nations have to see that they do. How long they work and are effective for, that’s a different question.

I’m a pro vaccinator with scientific education and research experience. Sure, emotions come into it often, but it’s usually with unfounded statements from public figures who create mass panic on the anti vaccination ‘side’. Ie vaccines cause autism – my child changed after vaccination, I know it was that.

Unfortunately science doesn’t work based on anecdotal opinions or even general observations, that’s the good thing about it. As Neil deGrasse Tyson said ““The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” Because it’s unbiased (and biased studies are heavily heavily frowned upon and if you produce biased studies, it can destroy your career as a professional scientist). Science isn’t done to support one side or the other, studies are done to test hypotheses and whatever the result is a win for the general scientific knowledge. A scientist who tries everything to prove his hypothesis is true, is just a bad scientist (as was the case with that original now debunked and flawed original research that suggested the MMR vaccines was linked to Autism).

I do agree with some of your points. In some cases vaccines aren’t necessarily a ‘necessity’. I had chicken pox, didn’t die, and if I’m ever exposed again I’ll get Shingles instead of adult onset Chickenpox which can kill you (we didn’t trade chickenpox for Shingle’s, both are caused by the same virus, Shingles is the reactivation of Chickenpox later on in previously infected individuals).

You are right, we might not need vaccinations now (given the current infection rates). But if we suddenly stopped mass vaccinations what would be the result in 10-20 years? Would things look very different?

There’s also other studies showing over a 10-15 year period (can’t remember the exact figure) in the US vaccinations went up 300% but incidence of autism (for example) increased by 25-30%. It doesn’t make sense. Another recent study that just came out (few weeks ago) also suggested that the changes in brain development during pregnancy may actually be the cause of Autism.(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140326181909.htm)

We are forgetting one major thing that has dramatically changed and that’s out diets, mainly crappy diets, fast foods, preservatives, artificial flavour enhancers, artificial sweetners (umm cancer causing). I bet they are having a much larger impact on our children (and their fetal development) and us than we realise. But it’s extremely difficult to measure or even test.

Have a read of the below. It’s a 900 page report that examines all the scientific research on the major vaccines and the conclusions reached from the summation of the studies (up to 2012).

I do agree with some of your reasoning. I do agree that personal choice should be had too. I don’t agree with mass panic caused by unqualified public figures causing people to doubt their doctors though. With the internet, now everyone believes they are an expert in everything. But the reality is, they aren’t.

HI Michael, thanks for posting the IOM’s review. When this review came out the mainstream media did their duty as usual proclaming that the schedule was safe and that vaccines don’t play any role in autism, yadda, yadda, yadda. One of the only papers I saw that clearly had read the review, the Seattle Times, noted some glaring inconsistencies with the way the report had been portrayed in the MSM.

QUOTE
But in the vast majority of cases – 135 out of 158 examined – the committee couldn’t reach any conclusions about connections between vaccines and serious health conditions, saying there was insufficient evidence

For example, the committee said it did not try to determine how often such serious vaccine-caused adverse events occur.

In the report, the committee noted that many of the adverse events it examined are “exceedingly rare in the population overall,” and most often occur without being preceded by vaccination.

But in the briefing, Clayton and other committee members could not put a number on “rare.”

Without numbers, it’s impossible to compare the risk of an adverse event to the risk that an unvaccinated child might get seriously ill from a disease.

The committee also said it was not asked to answer the question “Are vaccines safe?” Nor did it have data to address the concern by many parents about multiple vaccines given at one time.

Policy decisions about vaccines, the committee said, require a “balancing of risks and benefits.”

The vaccine that racked up the highest number of problems was the varicella vaccine, given to prevent chickenpox. In some patients – most of whom had compromised immune systems – the vaccine caused brain swelling, pneumonia, hepatitis, meningitis, shingles and chickenpox itself.
END QUOTE

Note that the IOM report took two years to produce, mostly behind closed doors, and was paid for by the Department of Health and Human Services, the government agency which is also a defendant against the vaccine-injured in the government’s vaccine court.

Due to a narrow set of objectives defined for the IOM by the government, the report only looked at a small set of published research studies linking just two vaccines to developmental disorders such as autism. Only four epidemiological studies were considered of sufficient quality to evaluate the MMR vaccine in relation to autism and no studies were deemed of sufficient quality for the DtaP vaccine and autism analysis. The committee did not attempt to evaluate six other vaccines for autism causation, the safety of the cumulative vaccine schedule and health outcomes like autism, or the safety of vaccine ingredients like mercury and aluminum in the context of chemical exposures from other sources like air pollution or consumer products.

“A basic understanding of immunology shows that they do, since they mimic natural exposure”

“One thing we know is, mortality rates wouldn’t look very different as they were in decline long before mass vaccination programs began.”

This is assuming that the rate of decline was to continue in the absence of the vaccination programs. In it’s absence it may have flattened out much higher than the rates are today and the decline stopped. The issue though, is it’s speculation both ways, granted. We will never know.

That link doesn’t load, nor does the entire site. Not sure if it is down.

Can you specifically tell me how vaccines (ie introduction of antigens which are found on viral and bacterium) isn’t eliciting a response in the same way the actual pathogen does?

If it wasn’t, then we wouldn’t be producing antibodies, memory helper T cells and B cells and so on against the introduced antigen. Unless there’s been some revolutionary change in immunology that has occurred in the last 5 years?

“Without numbers, it’s impossible to compare the risk of an adverse event to the risk that an unvaccinated child might get seriously ill from a disease.

The committee also said it was not asked to answer the question “Are vaccines safe?” Nor did it have data to address the concern by many parents about multiple vaccines given at one time.

Policy decisions about vaccines, the committee said, require a “balancing of risks and benefits.”

Agreed and very true. Most medicine is about risks vs benefits. Do I get this cancer treatment or do I face the possibility of death. Some would think the side effects aren’t worth it, other’s would. It’s a very subjective decision, and vaccination is no different. They were there to look at the data that exists and make decisions based on that. Not come to an overall (subjective) conclusion about the safety of vaccines as a whole.

I still agree everyone should have the choice. I also read of people (other comments) of an individual family have all 4 children with apparent (and I use that would only as it’s obviously not conclusive) side effects from vaccines. Something’s just not right with that. Even given the 1 in 90 that get autism (or for other side effects much lower odds) the odd’s of a single family having a 100% hit on side effects for all 4 children, suggests something else is going on (although not sure what exactly they experienced).

So much has changed in the last 30 years which is extremely difficult to examine (food preservatives, flavourings, colourings, artificial sweetners and so on) that it could be a multitude of environmental factors causing the issues we see today.

One meta study I would love to see if the difference between Asian countries and Western ones, where diets are generally very very different and until recently. I personally know no one with Autism as an adult (only one kid I went to high school with) and I live between 2 countries. Maybe it’s an epidemic of the US and your (generally) bad eating habits as a whole. I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s much much more complicated than simply only a side effect of vaccines.

“I’m sure it’s much much more complicated than simply only a side effect of vaccines”

I absolutely agree, it irks me to no end that people constantly miscontrue the statement “we do not know conclusively whether vaccines play a role in rising rates of autism” into “vaccines are the sole cause of autism”, the two statements are totally different. I have seen professionals in the field cite things like industrial pollution, auto pollution, lipstick and other cosmetics, skin/sun/hair/bath products, pharmaceutical products other than vaccines, household cleaning products, synthetic chemicals for controlling pests, chemical finishings for furniture and bedding and clothing, industrial agriculture chemicals, fluoride in water, the list goes on, as comprising the “environmental” causes of autism due to neurotoxic risk but then conclude “but we know for sure vaccines don’t cause autism” and that jump of logic seems unfathomable in light of the lack of studies done between vax/unvax. The picture is big, it’s unfortunate that the vaccination issue has caused the medical cartel to launch a constant barrage of propaganda as it has taken much of the attention away from the epidemic at hand which is our children. Paul Offit does not care more about my kids than me.

Michael, you state that you don’t know anyone as an adult with Autism. My son is 41 years old and on the Spectrum and SSDI for it. You are right in saying that there are other factors in America besides vaccination. In 1971 the doctors placed me on diethylstilbestrol (DES), off-label, to help my infertility. I took it for 1 1/2 years hoping to get pregnant. It was banned in 1972 as the worst carcinogen given to women. The reason they withdrew it: the female offspring of the women who were taking it in the 50’s and 60’s developed cervical and uterine cancer and had to have hysterectomies as teenagers. When I delivered my son in 1973, the OBGYN came in and said “thank goodness you had a boy, I was worried”. That was my first experiment with being a medical guinea pig. Now they know the male offspring have a higher rate of testicular cancer and the Mom’s who took it get breast cancer. Also during my long labor with my 41 year old, I was given two very strong doses of Pitocin. Now of course they are finding a strong correlation between Pitocin and Autism. Giving Pitocin during labor is literally like WATERBOARDING the fetus. Pitocin creates such strong frequent contractions that the fetus experiences suffocation in the amniotic fluid and suffers oxygen deficiency!
Then of course, being a good Mom of the ’70’s, my son was fully vaccinated. Every time he had a vaccine he ran a 105 degree temp that wouldn’t respond to Tylenol and baths. The doctors said “some kids just do that.” Oh, and now they are finding a correlation between Tylenol and Autism.
When my other three children were damaged by vaccination (one dead, two on SSDI, one severe ADHD) I went back to school and got a degree in Holistic Nutrition. In my practice I advised people to think long and hard about vaccination, medicine, medical procedures and hospitals. A good read is “Death by Medicine” Part 1 and 2, by Dr. Gary Null et al. which can be found online.
I do believe that all of the above contributed to my son’s autism. For my other children, it was – flatout – the vaccines.

Just to clarify the stats from Michael’s post: From CDC with the ADDM network combining information the year 2000 showed 1 : 150 DX on the Autism Spectrum.
In 2010 1: 68 with the same DX. Significant jump in ten years. Double the number of children on the spectrum.

Some sources state that several decades ago autism rates were 1:10,000. Detection absolutely better but overall something is causing a significant increase in neurological disorganization in children resulting in this diagnosis. The cause of autism continues to be elusive; genetic predisposition with possible gene, maternal distress, environmental factors, etc. A neuro typical child who at age 6 years suffers a TBI can then manifest autism symptoms and have a dual diagnosis of TBI with Autism. Children with CP or DS can also have the dual diagnosis. Also, one must remember that even with genetic predisposition or genetic markers the individual may not necessarily manifest with this condition as some point in his life. Just as one born with the genetic marker for specific cancers may not necessarily develop the illness. Perhaps much rests on environmental components as well. That said because we do not have a specific cause for autism or many other forms of neurological disorganization and because the incidence of many auto immune disorders is on a dramatic increase this suggest much effort should be directed toward finding a correlating factor and eliminating or controlling it.

The problem with Autism (and other social ‘disorders’) including ADHD is that the measure of who has it is constantly shifting. Where 10 years ago a child may have just been measured as a ‘slow learner’ or an ‘introvert’ they are now diagnosed with ADHD and Autism. I’m not saying all, but it used to be part of the variability we call being human. Now the ‘norm’ is so narrow that anything outside has to be diagnosed with some ‘disorder’. Now i’m not saying this accounts for all of it, but it is surely playing a part.

The figures still ‘only’ show a rise in Autism of 100% *ie double the number. Were vaccinations still equally on the rise, how does this equate to how many vaccines are given and so on.

I don’t know why it’s vaccinate or not. There is a middle ground of choose the ones that have the studies, safety and efficacy of 20+ years of use.

I agree research needs to be done. The issue is (and anyone who has done any medical research will tell you this) is that biological system’s can often have suprises of their own. One study may suggest something is happening, but when other groups try to repeat that, they can’t. Biology does funny things. It’s going to be a daunting task whatever the result.

My late husband had never had a flu shot. While working for a pharma company a nurse came door to door in the office building to administer flu shots. He felt pressured so agreed and got the shot. Two months later he developed lumps in his neck and was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He died after a 5-year struggle. Neither he nor I thought the vaccine caused the cancer but do believe the vaccine mechanism compromised his immune system (which is what the intention is) and his body was overwhelmed by the cancer cells which had been previous been held in check. We had plenty of time in those 5 years to do our research on this and are convinced that this formerly healthy, marathon runner, PhD scientist paid a huge price for taking that flu vaccine.

Thank you for sharing and speaking out. Just yesterday I told my husband how I felt so bullied. Never would I criticize a person for their parenting choice, especially if they did their research, so why was I being so negatively talked about? Unfortunately, I feel we will never live in harmony and we must be strong to live with lifelong criticism. It’s horribly sad, but inside we know what’s best for our kids. Blessings to you and yours.

Thank you for putting into words pretty much exactly how I see it. It’s become a social justice issue and I can’t help but feel that gut wrenching churn of fear for believing in something strongly that as a result may hurt or maim my child or myself. No not the vaccines. The hate. Bless you for taking the risk of getting it out there and touching people who are really struggling with this.

I respect all points of view however my son caught whooping cough from an unvaccinated child and became very ill. If you choose not to vaccinate your own I’m sorry but you ARE making that decision for more than just your child. It may be a calculated risk to vaccinate but by choosing not to you are taking a different calculated risk that your child may infect another. That’s my statement it’s not an accusation. It is my direct experience with my son. Namaste.

Caroline, we have to remember that germs only live in environments conducive to their growth. What determines whether one gets sick from a germ is whether their inner terrain is compromised. People can vaccinate all they want to but if they’re not eating properly and aren’t making healthy lifestyle choices they will be at risk of contracting and spreading any number of diseases. If I am forced to vaccinate should others be forced to eat the impeccably healthy diet my children eat?

In addition, I think if the pertussis vaccine worked and it were safe and provided lifetime immunity people might consider it but we’ve got an ineffective vaccine that provides little if no immunity and makes those vaccinated asymptomatic carriers. I didn’t even touch on the associated side effects and harmful additives. Our children could just as easily be exposed to pertussis from a vaccinated individual (if not more so).

I don’t downplay your child’s sickness in any way! I hope you don’t feel that I did.
Kindly,
Megan

Caroline, the accellular vaccine for whooping cough does not prevent transmission or colonization in any shape or form. The vaccination status of the child that transmitted pertussis to your child is irrelevant, had that child been vaccinated they would still have carried pertussis. This vaccine works by seeking to make the symptoms less severe. There is no shortage of reports on this, just none of them make their way to the mainstream media because they don’t want people to stop spreading misinformation about the vaccine as it helps pressure people into getting vaccinated.

This is not an attack on you by any means, I’m just pointing out where your post is misleading. I am sorry you had to go through this with your child, there’s nothing more frightening than your own child battling any condition/disease.

If the vaccine you allowed your child to have actually worked as you believed it should, your child wouldn’t have gotten the disease. Or, maybe your child got the illness from the very vaccine it was supposed to prevent.

Yes, I was told the same thing when I was bullied into allowing my children to become vaccinated. Then one of my children suffered for it. He developed a very serious autoimmune disease BECAUSE of one of the vaccines. Autoimmune disease was exactly what I was afraid would occur, but I was told that my fears were ridiculous, even though the very disease he developed is listed as a possible adverse reaction on the vaccine insert.

I’m sure you’ll forgive me for stating the obvious… I’m a bit more concerned about the fact that my previously extremely healthy child developed an autoimmune disease that caused his platelet count to drop drastically, potentially putting him at risk for a bleed-out, than I am with him getting a case of whooping cough. Whooping cough, in a normally healthy child, is a relatively minor bump in the road. The autoimmune disease my child developed was absolutely preventable. He wouldn’t have developed it had he not gotten the vaccine.

If your child was vaccinated against it, shouldn’t that have prevented him from getting it? My child’s immune system has now been compromised by the vaccines. NOW I’m worried about him being exposed to those diseases, because he could relapse and have another severe drop in his platelet count.

I’m also curious to know… where did the other child get the disease from? Was the source before him/her vaccinated? Before them? And before…? You blame the fact that the child your child caught the disease from wasn’t vaccinated, but that child had to get it somewhere, and there have been studies that show that those vaccinated against pertussis are actually asymptomatic but contagious carriers right at that point when they should be the most immune. It’s just as likely that other unvaccinated child got the disease from someone who had been vaccinated not long before. So do you blame that other vaccinated child, or just the one that they gave the disease to? (Consider this a hypothetical question, since I neither know for a fact that your child caught it from an unvaccinated child, or where they got it from, and so on.)

The only two kids who had whooping cough in our school were both vaccinated! My son who is not up to date with his booster, did not get it, both vaccinated and unvaccinated can pass whooping cough and the vaccine is not working anyway efficently.

So why did you feel obligated to inflate your credentials, holding yourself out as “Dr. Megan,” with a variety of alphabet soup tacked on, including an M.D.? Why did you scrub this after the fact to remove the “Dr.” here?

Boris, I have never put an M.D behind my name…ever. I cannot be held responsible for others who re-post my articles (especially without my knowledge) on their websites.

I do have an N.D which stands for naturopathic doctor. I have earned that degree (as well as my other degrees and certifications) and title should I choose to use it. I have chosen to use my first name so that nobody feels I am holding myself in authority or superiority over them and I removed my last name to protect my privacy. I’m sure you can understand why.

I meant to say that we are an international organisation and connect with advocates, families, medical professionals, attorneys in many countries in the world. I see you have picked up our latest article ‘Gardasil: Are you paying for your own bullet?’ Meghan, if you wish to receive all of our press releases, articles and stories let me have your contact details and I will add you to my lists. Thank you.Freda Birrell recently posted…Gardasil: Are you paying for your own bullet?

Your most recent post is one of the best articles on vaccine choice we have seen in a long time. May we please have permission to re-post your entire article on our site? We believe it will help many to see the logic of individual choice regarding the vaccination of our children. Let me introduce myself, Freda Birrell, Secretary at SaneVax Inc, please see our web http://www.sanevax.org We try to help so many young people and their families whose lives have been seriously impaired by the HPV vaccines, Cervarix and Gardasil. Wherever these vaccines are administered they cause deadly harm and even death. We know these families personally, we speak with them on skype and put them in touch with others to get much valued support. Anyone who wishes to contact us please ask for Freda at info@sanevax.org

In my job I as a lead teacher I supervise the vaccination of 400+ students per year. I am with them on the day and I am still with them 5 years later, I have not seen one adverse affect. Some tears on the day, students needing reassurance. Year after year I see students receive vaccinations and no not once anything to worry about.

What are the rates of Alzheimers and Parkinsons and cancer between the students that vaccinate and those that don’t? What you meant to say was you haven’t observed any immediate observable side effects, that does not mean there were none.

That would be a nearly impossible question to answser and may be as it would require a vaccinated group for each vaccination, plus cummulitive vaccination, plus control group for each group., plus long term follow up for the rest of their lives. Plus all other health/life variables to be factored in. Plus the ethics of having a control group deprived of access to approved medicine ie vaccinations.. I don’t see how that could ever be done and how development of diseases later in life could be tracked back to vaccination.

I said it one time, and now I say it to times, vacines gave my baby autism. He was the smartest kid in his class and then he got injected and then he has all these learning problems. I hate the goverment for making me give those shots before he could start school. Lets see how there kid do!

Thank you for articulating what so many of us have been thinking. The hate and bullying is out of control. Many of us literally have no support, except for the internet. Seriously, thank you.Granola mom recently posted…Mommy wars…over washing cloth diapers? Really?

I come from a long line of unvaccinated. Generational. No cancer. No chronic illness if any sort what so ever in the ones that chose not to vaccinate. Not the same story with those that did. The prrof is there. People can say what they like. We are healthy because we have not been poisoned with slow release disease from day one of birth! Fantastic article. Google the
Amish. No cancer or Autism. Google the delayed vacvination in Japan. No sids, no autism. This is no coincidence! One in fifty children now have life long Autism in places like Australia and America. Pumping 42 illnesses into a baby by age five is criminal.

i am not a fan of vaccination, so i am not commenting to argue with you, but i do have to point out that the amish most certainly do deal with both cancer and autism in their population, and many of them do vaccinate… so, not really the best argument to use…

Hey Teri, I think a lot of it depends on whether you are old order or not. I would be interested to see what the stats are of autism in the Amish and whether that coincides with their use of vaccines. But I’ve heard as well (and I think there is a study out there) that the prevalence of autism is significantly less in their population!

I’m curious about people who choose not to vaccinate. Does this apply to ALL vaccinations? Do you pick and choose which ones you get? Or are they opposed to all vaccinations?

What do people think the world would be like if NO ONE vaccinated? Have anti-vaccination proponents considered the societal effects of polio outbreaks (not the couple a year we have now, but cities with 1000s of children suddenly in need of being hospitalized.) or smallpox outbreaks with other sudden mass populations needing to be hospitalized. These outbreaks have already happened in the past. Its likely that without immunization it would happen again. I think the anger that some people feel, is that the non-vaccinators are saying that they would be ok if no one vaccinated, and the resulting fallout would be horrible but somehow worth it. I think its also important to note, that the statistics that the anti vaccination community relies on are low BECAUSE of the huge vaccination pool we have. I regularly wonder if people would not vaccinate if polio was running 5% infection of the whole population or smallpox was in their community.

I know that vaccinations are not perfect. I know that some kids have suffered horrible side effects. But to imply (as this article does) that vaccines have done more harm than good, is just not true.

I’m not asking that every non-vaccinator lay down their opinions and step in line. if you can imagine ANY scenario where you would want to immunize (Cancer, AIDS, malaria) or would think it a good idea for another person to immunize then consider being part of the program. It works best when we ALL do it.

I would love to see an anti-vaccine world, but by choice. I believe emotions as well can create disease in the body so fear of these diseases and/or the actions people may take due to fear may outweigh eye good. I believe, as I have witnessed, that the people do NOT vaccinate have done hours and hours of research that they could even have certification as credible sources of information on disease and vaccines and nutrition and healthy living for that matter because we do not think we are on a bubble but instead proactively study all there is and implement what we can to keep our immune systems strong, hygiene top notch, and our systems and lives healthy. Not everyone does that and to tell someone that doesn’t believe in themselves to go against such a strong force would be throwing them to the wolves. Especially since you can’t take responsibility for them. By the same token, you can’t tell someone, even with that gut feeling and nothing else, to vaccinate when they feel they shouldn’t because God forbid their child suffers one of the dangerous side effects, as my son did, and they and you have to live with that decision. Research! And don’t stop! New information comes out almost daily! I know that vaccinations will never be apart of my families health protocol. I am very comfortable with my decision and plan to stand by it keep learning about these diseases, and will stay prepared to deal with any future circumstances I find myself in with those that I am responsible for. Self education is a powerful tool that everyone should utilize! I stand by anyone who has done their homework diligently and made their decision, whether to vaccinate or not.

It’s unusual for a routine vaccinator to show genuinely impartial curiosity concerning the reasons for which anybody might decide not to use a specific vaccine. From the way you word your questions, it’s entirely apparent that you have never chosen to not have any vaccine for any reason and have never questioned whether all vaccines are necessary (or even useful or relevant) for disease prevention; effective; and safe enough to warrant risking their use rather than take any of the possible alternative courses of action.

I’m curious about people who choose not to question anything they’re assured they must consume. Are they born that way, or is curiosity trained out of them? Are they made obedient and docile, or do they become that way? Does the evidence of their senses play any larger role in their perceptions than the research evidence that they dismiss without reading it?

What do vaccination addicts think the world would be like if everybody required five-yearly diphtheria boosters in order to escape a disease formerly held in check by almost universal exposure and asymptomatic response? Do they imagine that such a world is one of freedom? Have proponents of vaccine addiction considered the societal effects of their habit? Do they ever examine the history of diseases such as smallpox and the role that governmental mandate of universal vaccination played in repeatedly inflaming epidemics of the disease? Do they consider smallpox and scarlet-fever vaccinations to be essential for protection against return of those illnesses, and, if not, why don’t they? Do they ever consider the implications of the asymptomatic infection of 44% of all measles-vaccinated children two to four years after vaccination?

Those who choose some alternative course to injecting their children and themselves with every virus and bacterium ever included in a vaccine are aware that sometimes the unvaccinated too suffer from measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, and even poliomyelitis (though, in the unvaccinated, this is usually asymptomatic). But they’re also aware that vaccine statistics do not reflect reality, as the adverse-event reporting system, officially acknowledged to be 90–99% broken, is semi-officially boycotted in relation to vaccination damage. They’re aware that the research that’s financially independent of vaccine manufacturers tells a very different story from the stories that come straight from those manufacturers via government officers who know nothing — and wish to know nothing — beyond the message they’re hired to deliver. And to imply (as you do) that vaccine addicts who have never questioned the long-term personal effects or the broader societal effects of their habit inherently know something that parents do not who have taken a great deal of trouble to search and read the relevant research literature is not simply naïve; it’s thoughtless.

I’m not asking that you set aside your received opinions in favour of taking the least trouble to investigate the matter for yourself. I’m not suggesting even that you look around you and question the course of self-destruction that you so fervently believe in. In fact, if your belief in vaccination works for you, then I fully encourage you to embrace it: insist that your doctor inject you (repeatedly, every several years) with vaccines made from all the illnesses you still haven’t contracted; insist that you receive not only the presently approved vaccines but also all of those that have been withdrawn from the market due to accumulating evidence (irrelevant to you) of the damage they do; ascribe any and all illnesses temporally associated with the inoculations to coincidence; and thank your doctor for saving you from something worse.

All I’d ask of you is that, for as long as you are or may be shedding vaccine virus or experiencing asymptomatic vaccine measles or parapertussis, you stay away from those who may contract the illnesses you’re spreading — including other vaccinated children. Would that be so hard, considering that you’ll undoubtedly know when you’re experiencing such asymptomatic diseases or shedding vaccine virus?

John-
I am genuinely curious. I want to know if people are choosing not to vaccinate for EVERYTHING or if they pick and choose or if they use some sort of delayed schedule etc.

To be fair, I don’t buy into several vaccines. I’ve had one flu shot, and am fairly committed to not ever getting another… not because I don’t think they work.

What I do find curious is when I start thinking about the vaccination programs as a societal tool. Looking at smallpox, during the 20th century it was estimated to have killed 300-500 million people. So if the goal is a world without vaccines, then these deaths mean LESS and subsequent lives saved mean LESS than the VERY unfortunate side effects that might be impacting <1% of the population.

You pointed out that parents who choose not to vaccinate and have done extensive research are thoughtful. I'm not disagreeing with that. I don't know exactly what a lot of these parents are reading however. I would argue that making a decision not to vaccinate based on THIS blog article is foolish. And frankly, I see a lot of non-vaccinator proponents directing people to blog type articles. I propose that the reason for this is the fact that the scientific community is not behind non-vaccination. I would concur that its possible that they fear the professional blowback. I also contend that the statistics we have out there are almost entirely relational than causational. You can read through the posts here and find many people who are directing "ills" at vaccination. There isn't any concrete evidence backing up their claims.

I do believe this is a conversation that we can continue to have. I think all health issues can be visited continuously. This is a particularly important issue because of the possible impact to the collective public health.

Lastly, I have a few questions for one of your statements:

"But they’re also aware that vaccine statistics do not reflect reality, as the adverse-event reporting system, officially acknowledged to be 90–99% broken, is semi-officially boycotted in relation to vaccination damage. They’re aware that the research that’s financially independent of vaccine manufacturers tells a very different story from the stories that come straight from those manufacturers via government officers who know nothing "

1. VAERS officially acknowledged to be 90-99% broken by who?
2. its semi-officially boycotted by who? healthcare professionals don't want to report damage? or parents don't want to report damage? If we know its wrong, where are the actual reliable statistics being kept that help us to know that VAERS is wrong?
3. what financially independent research specifically? do you have links to peer-reviewed, controlled studies that are very different than the statistics put out from government offices?

Megan-
If you’re really concerned about the “hate debate” they review my original post, and then review this reply. Tell me who generated the contention and “hate” in this exchange of thoughts.

“I’m not asking that you set aside your received opinions in favour of taking the least trouble to investigate the matter for yourself. I’m not suggesting even that you look around you and question the course of self-destruction that you so fervently believe in. In fact, if your belief in vaccination works for you, then I fully encourage you to embrace it: insist that your doctor inject you (repeatedly, every several years) with vaccines made from all the illnesses you still haven’t contracted”

What if every one were homosexual or xyz – what would happen then?
People often appeal to “What if everyone did that?”-style moral arguments (e.g. for a putative obligation to vote). While there’s something to the underlying thought here, I think it is often misapplied. If we’re not careful, this “universalizing” reasoning can easily mislead us into accepting stronger conclusions than are actually warranted.

For example, advanced economies depend upon there being diverse and specialized professions. So if everyone worked in (say) construction, we’d all starve; but that obviously doesn’t make working in the construction sector immoral. Even if construction work is widely regarded as permissible, there is no risk of everyone doing it, and hence no risk of disaster. Similarly for choosing not to have children. As these cases suggest, the relevant question turns out to be, not “what if everyone did that?”, but rather, “what if everyone felt free to do that?” The answer to this latter question will often be, appropriately enough, “no problem!”

Other times, the “what if everyone did that?” heuristic serves to highlight a genuine moral problem, but one that can be equally well addressed from a straightforwardly Act Consequentialist perspective. This can take two forms:

(1) We often unjustly neglect the aggregate impact of small differences made to large numbers of people. So, iterating these effects can help to make them more visible, and bring us to see that actually each individual instance was more significant than we realized (i.e., more significant than was a competing, more visible effect on a single person).

(2) Sometimes decisions (e.g. buying factory-farmed meat) have what I call “chunky impacts”, or threshold effects, whereby the vast majority of instances have no effect, but then a single threshold-breaking instance has a proportionately huge effect, such that the expected value comes out to the same (if you have a proportionate chance of being the threshold-breaker).

In either case, there’s no special “collective action problem” that requires us to pretend that we’re deciding for everyone. Simply assessing the expected utility of our individual action yields the right result.

Things can be different in threshold cases where you have background knowledge suggesting that it’s (disproportionately) unlikely that you’ll be a threshold-breaker. Voters in non-swing states may be in such a position, where the odds of their (presidential) vote making a difference are so slim that the expected value of their vote is negligible, even given the high stakes of a presidential election. (This will, of course, depend on the details!)

In this case, Act Consequentialism may recommend not voting. Critics then object that if every right-thinking citizen followed this recommendation, then even “safe states” would no longer be safe, with disastrous consequences! But note that AC’s recommendation is highly contingent on our background evidence regarding others’ dispositions. As it happens, we know that many people vote for expressive reasons, etc. If this were to change — were we to suddenly find ourselves in a society of Act Consequentialists who don’t get any intrinsic value out of the act of voting itself — then the expected value of our voting would also change. For each right-thinking citizen who “drops out” of voting in a once-safe state, the expected value of the remaining citizens’ votes increases, until you reach a point where the optimal number of right-thinking people are voting.

Of course, things can be trickier if the society falls into a bad equilibrium. If every right-thinking citizen drops out simultaneously, then subsequently there will be no act-consequentialist reason for them to start voting again, as no one alone has any chance of making a difference. (One can multiply examples along these lines, involving firing squads, etc.) The proper solution to this pure coordination problem is to build in some of the insights of Donald Regan’s Cooperative Utilitarianism:
The basic idea [of Cooperative Utilitarianism] is that each agent should proceed in two steps: First he should identify the other agents who are willing and able to co-operate in the production of the best possible consequences. Then he should do his part in the best plan of behaviour for the group consisting of himself and the others so identified, in view of the behaviour of non-members of the group. (p.x)

In a world where all the right-thinking citizens are cooperative utilitarians, and some X% of them need to vote in order to avoid disaster, then a bit over X% of them should vote. (Perhaps each person would use a randomizing device to determine whether they fall into the voting group.) Meanwhile, in the real world, for as long as there are vanishingly few cooperative utilitarians around, those of us in non-swing states probably needn’t bother.

Our son, went to High School this year, and the school attempted to force us to give him a Tetanus shot. I asked them why, as to the best of my knowledge Tetanus was not contagious. After much pushing and prodding they admitted that they were afraid of being sued, should my son step on a nail at school and end up with Tetanus as a result. And so it would appear that the school’s motives are not so much about protecting the pupils from harm, but instead protecting the school and minimising its risk with regards potential lawsuits.

Then a couple of months ago we were informed that the school [its a public school in VIC] was running a vaccination program – where all pupils could be given free vaccinations [by the city council] for hep & hpv – thats boys and girls. The glossy brochures made mention of how safe it was and how few people showed side effects and that the vaccinations would certainly protect the kids from getting Hep and or HPV & cervical cancer …….

We told them to get lost and refused to allow our son to be vaccinated. And guess what, a large % of the kids that day, that got the shots, ended up feeling dizzy, vomiting, passing out and generally showing nasty side effects.

We believe in the Precautionary Principle, and that is to err on the side of caution and to assume that something is unsafe until such time as it has proven to be safe. None of the vaccines have been proven to be safe and their manufacturers also try to close all the loop holes, with regards potential lawsuits, by saying that it may cause side effects etc etc. Also we have taken note that the manufacturers product labels also state that the product “may protect and or reduce the likelyhood of getting the diseases in question” . In other words they never say that it is a cure and that it will prevent cervical cancer or flu for example,just that it may help prevent it.

This is all about big money. Pharmaceutical companies in bed with politicians , government, city councils etc. They make the diseases and then they make the cure. This is not about health care it is about making money from people’s illnesses . If we were all fit and healthy and there was no disease then the likes of Bayer & co would not exist.

There have been many MANY instances in the past, where a product that has been deemed safe has ended up not being safe and years down the line causing serious negative health effects – think of Thalidomide!!

Many of the vaccines have mercury and formaldehyde in them, yes in small doses. BUT how much is too much ? The fact is that we dont really know. What may be ok for one person may just be too much for another.

And who are the ones becoming nasty and hateful ? Who are the bullies ? Those who have vested interests in the $$$ made from the vaccines – the pharmacists , the manufacturers, the doctors, the politicians and those whose eyes they have pulled the wool over.

And so those that oppose the vaccination process become victims. They are bullied and harassed and labelled and accused of spreading diseases, just because they are protecting their children by not having them vaccinated until such time as the vaccine is proven 100% safe for use.

I have 2 children. I almost lost my little one at the age of 5 weeks. It took the ICU team 45 mins of CPR to bring him back to life. My wife, whilst pregnant, had been exposed to spray drift of pesticides blowing into our house and garden from a neighbouriung farm. The farmer and pesticide manufacturers [Bayer, Dow, Villa, Monsanto etc al] had assured us that the products were not harmful to man nor the environment, and that would not pose a risk to the unborn baby. How wrong they were.

6 High Court Cases later, which we won. Never asking for money, just that the law be obeyed.

9 years down the line, both I and my eldest [he is now 12] have got cancer from what we were sprayed with. And the products that were deemed safe to spray way back in 2004 have now been banned, as further research has proven that they are toxic and cause major medical problems.

This is one of the very best articles on this subject I’ve ever read. And just as we have laws that oppose vilification or hate speech on the basis of race, creed, sexual preference or disability – we must also codify that vilification on the basis of medical choices must also be illegal. I will share this blog with everyone and anyone I can. You have said what I have felt for a very long time. Thank you!

You say “According to the CDC there were 222 cases of measles in 2011 (35-56% of which occurred in the vaccinated population)..”, but when I go to the CDC link you provide, they say ” Most patients (86%) were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status”

You then say “According to the CDC, measles isn’t a “deadly disease”..” but I can’t find anywhere in the link you provide where the CDC states that measles is not a deadly disease

What they do say which I think is of the utmost importance is ” The increase in measles importations and outbreaks during 2011 serves as a reminder that measles remains endemic in many parts of the world and unvaccinated U.S. residents continue to place themselves and others in their communities at risk for measles and its complications. ”

Hey Greg, the CDC’s classification of measles is as follows (citation in post): “an illness characterized by a generalized rash lasting ≥3 days, a temperature of ≥101°F [≥38.3°C], and cough, coryza, or conjunctivitis.”

In the other CDC citation (During 2011 provisional total paragraph): Most patients were unvaccinated (65%) or had unknown vaccination status (21%).

As for the last paragraph, the CDC is going to recommend MMR vaccine regardless.

I would like to comment regarding what diseases, conditions etc have been around a long time. When I was a little girl (I am 65) I remember having an earache once , maybe twice. The same goes for my brothers and sisters. We did not have ear infections (I’m not saying they didn’t exist, obviously they did). We all had the childhood diseases mumps, cicken pox, and measles. We were sick a few days and got better. When I had my children they were all immunized. They all three were constantly suffering from ear infections, earaches, bronchitis, upper respiratory illness, tonsillitis to name a few. My brothers and sisters children were similar. My mother was astonished at the continuous sickness, trips to the pediatrician, and to the emergency room. We used to discuss it a lot. We always wondered why all the sickness? I don’t know if it was caused by immunizations although before them my babies were healthy. Yes many of these diseases and sicknesses were around but not in the stages we have seen since I became a mother. I know there are some mistakes in spelling and punctuation. Thanks.

That is true for me too but the other way around! I was vaccinated and I was so sick as a child! My un-vaccinated children are extremely healthy. I was expecting them to get a lot more childhood illnesses when they started school but so far they have not.

I just wanted to make a comment regarding the quote in this article about the child who had leukaemia and died from chickenpox…7 years ago when my child received the chickenpox vaccine, a close relative of mine that we saw regularly, had leukaemia. The doctor that vaccinated my child contacted the relevant authorities to find out about the risk of exposure…the advice was to keep my child away – so not in the same house/room, as our family member with leukaemia ( the person was very well at the time and was not undergoing chemotherapy) because it was possible for them to become infected! This is the direct opposite of what we are told day in and day out, get vaxed to protect those who are at risk.

Nicely put. The thing I find most annoying about being “bullied” for not vaccinating is that most people that vaccinate don’t do their research to vaccinate. They think we are abusing our children by not, but I research every day to see if things have been tested or changed, making vaccines safe. How do people have the right to say that when most vaccinating moms just go with the flow.

Hi everyone!!
I am hoping to get some responses to a survey that I am conducting on the literature associated with vaccines for children. I am a college student that must conduct this survey for a class. It will take 5- 10 minutes and is only 10 questions long. I would appreciate it greatly if you would fill this survey out.

You are right that as moms we have the right to decide weather or not we should vaccinate our kids. I’m curious, were you vaccinated as a child? What adverse reactions are you most concerned about with vaccines? There are millions of children who have been vaccinated following the ACIP guidelines and have had no side effects. How would you feel if one of your children died from a vaccine preventable disease?

Britt, thanks for your questions. I was vaccinated as a child though the schedule was much less rigorous and I didn’t have any vaccines past the age of 18, nor did I have HPV vaccine, menningococcal, rotovirus, flu shots, and a few of the others. My mom is an occupational nurse/RN/BSN. As a child I had ear infections, walking pneumonia, sinus infections, bronchitis, bowel issues, PCOS, and other colds and flu. My mom recorded all of my illnesses in a book and many of them came on after being vaccinated. After my last vaccine (I believe it was Hep B) I developed Crohn’s disease (an auto-immune disease) and lost bowel function for two years. I had aluminum chelation done as part of my alternative therapy.

To answer your other questions, I would feel devastated if my children died from any disease. I would also feel bad if my children had adverse reactions to a vaccine that left them dead or debilitated in some way for the rest of their lives. Would I ever second guess my stance on vaccines? If vaccines were safe, research and clinically effective, and they conferred lifetime immunity, and they didn’t contain harmful additives, and we didn’t have better methods of prevention, or treatments for these diseases, and there was some sort of accountability and liability demanding that one be open and honest, I might feel differently. As for side-effects, there are so many. I think the fact that there are even side-effects at all (and that one has a higher chance of getting a side-effect than experiencing the disease) bothers me. I wouldn’t want my children to experience any of them.

research and clinically effective
What exactly did you mean to say here?

they conferred lifetime immunity,
Some of them do, and some naturally suffered diseases don’t, so why are you asking more of vaccines than you expect of nature?

and they didn’t contain harmful additives
By dosage, they don’t, and several of the ingredients in vaccines either occur naturally in your body or your system deals with them constantly in your food, drink, and in the air. If they were as dangerous as you claim, none of us would be here.

and we didn’t have better methods of prevention
We don’t, which is why scientists have spent years of their lives and careers developing vaccines in the first place. If diseases were as easy to prevent as you seem to think, there wouldn’t have been vaccines in the first place.

or treatments for these diseases
There aren’t. There are support therapies, and modern medicine can often keep people alive while they suffer and recover, but there are not effective treatments. Again, if there were, vaccines would not be as necessary, as in the case of scarlet fever. It’s been virtually eliminated through the use of antibiotics for strep throat.

and there was some sort of accountability and liability demanding that one be open and honest
What makes you think the CDC has some reason to be less than open and honest? They’re a government agency. They gain nothing from the use of vaccines, beyond a populace that doesn’t suffer regular epidemics of possibly deadly diseases.
There is a program in place to compensate those who experience serious adverse effects from vaccines. Since compensation for damages is what liability is all about, that would seem to cover the necessity. Unless, of course, your desire is to punish those you think responsible.

Vax side effects and damages are grossly underreported. And we are not given the true stats of what IS reported. I cannot trust that vax are safe because the government says they are. Who do I trust? Myself- to do the necessary research and make the best informed decision I can. I have 4 children. The oldest suffered such extensive ear infections that he needed speech therapy because he didn’t hear properly for years and it affected his speech. He also seems to be bipolar. Due to shots? I don’t know if it’s connected. Second child had febrile seizures and childhood asthma. She has suffered with lifelong migraines. Third child had less vax then the others and has been healthier. Fourth child has had no vax and is completely healthy. Never had an ear infection and has only had to take antibiotics 3 times in 16 years.

What is it causing the epidemic of cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, ADD, ADHD, Autism etc. then in our country? If it’s not what’s being put in our food, water and vaccines, please shine some light as to what on earth is causing everyone to be so sick? It’s obviously something the masses of people are doing, since so many people are sick. Everyone who screams and yells that our food is safe, our water is safe and vaccines are safe never give an answer as to what then is causing all this? You say, “if they were dangerous, as you claim, non of us would be here”. There are lots of people who are no longer with us…have you not looked around? Everyone is sick. Are you unaware of how many people have cancer? Are you unaware of how many people they project will have cancer in the next 5 years? Are you unaware of how many people have diabetes? Are you unaware of how many children now, have autism, ADD and ADHD? Are you unaware of how many people have auto immune diseases? Are you unaware of how many people now have severe food allergies? Are you unaware of how many people have IBS? Are you unaware of how many people have chronic sickness, crones disease, severe gut issues, celiac disease, arthritis etc?? These things were not heard of years ago and today, they are the norm. When other countries very rarely see these diseases much less at the extremely high lever that OUR country sees them?

I can’t address the rest of your post right now, but I have to respond to your contention about vaccines “If they were as dangerous as you claim, none of us would be here.” is ridiculous. By that logic we could say that if not wearing a seatbelt were really dangerous none of us would be here.

Conversely, if vaccines were so necessary we wouldn’t be here, because nobody would have survived the “dangerous” diseases like chickenpox, mumps, rubella, rubeola, etcetera. Do you take the fact that our direct predecessors survived those diseases to mean that vaccines are unnecessary? No. But you figure that if vaccines were dangerous everyone would die from them?

There are potential side effects from everything–the antibiotics to treat pneumonia, treat cancer, treat a headache, a fever…from a new food we give our kids or eat ourselves, new laundry soap. Nothing is a for sure thing. I could try a new medication right now…a die from an anaphylactic reaction. Is it the doctor’s fault? Providers do not know how children, adults etc are going to react from what is given to them. Medicine is not an exact science. Going to the doctor, discussing potential risks and benefits of every treatment, including vaccines, including the benefits of regular check ups so potential problems (such as not meeting milestones) may be found. Why would you not have that discussion? I make informed decisions after those conversations with doctors. My child is developmentally delayed–we have seen multiple doctors and not one that we have every seen recommends not vaccinating your child. Some vaccines I have thought about, asked multiple questions and weighed options also. If you don’t trust your doctor why go? Would you treat your child for a cancer that has a good chance of survival with chemotherapy or radiation—both very toxic to the body but can also be lifesaving?

I think doctors should discuss the risk and benefits of all treatments (and individuals should have the right to partake or opt out) but when it comes to vaccinations, they don’t, at least that has been my experience and probably the experience of most of the other parents on this forum. Very few doctors will admit and acknowledge the risks of vaccination but to their defense, most aren’t knowledgable on the subject nor have they read the inserts. I am sure there are many parents who would love to take their children to a physician simply for the “milestone” synopsis but that’s not always a feasible option.

As per your other question, no I would never give my child chemotherapy or radiation because I know there are better options but that too is a personal choice that should be left up to every parent and individual.

“My child is developmentally delayed–we have seen multiple doctors and not one that we have every seen recommends not vaccinating your child.”

That is because doctors are taught at school that vaccinations should always be recommended. It is known that some insurance companies will threaten practises with rising rates if their vaccination rates drop below a certain level.

Ask the next doctor you visit what the more serious side effects of MMR might be and compare his answer to the product monograph. Ask him to name four ingredients of the DTaP-IPV that aren’t the viruses and see if he can.

Ask the doctor what circumstances they would recommend not vaccinating in. If they say there are none, they’re not concerned about their patient’s health but about doing their job…which is “M”anaging “D”isease.

I appreciate you passion. I myself trust in vaccination however like to undergo continued research on the topic as new data is collected and analysed every year. I avoid books like vaccination illusion as they become out of date very quickly and are mostly written by people who already have a strong pro/anti position. It is very hard for an author to select and present unbiased well analysed data and arguments if they hold a strong belief. From a critique point of view this article also contains very selective data that has been presented in an overly simplified manner with poor attention to rigorous analysis to provide an argument in favour to the authors viewpoint. One such example is the reference to the number of cases of diseases over the last few years. The data for number of individual cases has been presented, however the location of where that data was collected and corresponding data on vaccination rates in that outbreak location, socio-economic factors, population density or age was not explored to reach a conclusion. The outbreak in 2012 may have occurred in a community with low vaccination rate causing more cases than in 2013 where the outbreak may have occurred in a higher vax rate. Or in 2014, the lower rate of unvaccinated children in daycare centres may explain the lower numbers recorded so far for this year… However this data has not been analysed alongside it. It is not a simple issue and it requires much more than even simple statistics. The data that provides most insight is data taken over many years (50-100) that is presented alongside and statisitically correlated with various other data to see what the outcome may be caused by (including errors and probability confidences ). Lastly I would like to make one point regarding qualifications and expertise. You are quite right that you don’t need an MD to have children or make an educated decision on vaccination. Your education may include 2 or 3 hours or 2-3 weeks of reading information on the internet/books… or you could go read 3rd year textbooks on chemistry, biology, statistics, immuniology, virology and anatomy. You would most likely have to also read the 1st and 2nd year text books too – in order to understand the 3rd year textbooks. The point is which level of education do you think going to be more educated to make a better decision. So the next mum that says she has done research into the issue I am going to ask her “how many years full time study on the topic have you done?” “How many peer reviewed published papers have you critiqued?”, “how much data have you collected or number crunched?” Unless she replies with 3-4 years and can hold a conversation with me about statistics I will be classifying her as a sheep regardless of whether they are pro or anti vaccination. We employ people to build houses safely, look after out children with utmost trust or cook our food hygenically… Why can we not put our trust in those hundreds of scientists, not employed by ‘big pharma but working at the local university, to collect, analyse and make recommendations about how we can best try to reduce disease.

“Unless she replies with 3-4 years and can hold a conversation with me about statistics I will be classifying her as a sheep regardless of whether they are pro or anti vaccination.” So no one is allowed to have an opinion about anything, or make any decisions in their life, unless they have studied full time for 3-4 years on a topic. That would leave us crippled to make any decisions in our life, so I disregard that as a credible statement.

“Why can we not put our trust in those hundreds of scientists, not employed by ‘big pharma but working at the local university, to collect, analyse and make recommendations about how we can best try to reduce disease.” Very simply put – because as this article clearly states, anyone who says anything that goes against vaccination is quickly labeled a quack and a charlatan. Just as the tone of your response implies.

I no longer vaccinate, ever since I had a bad reaction, and because of my daughter, who had a bad reaction and now suffers from a life-long auto-immune disease that will never go away. I don’t need an “expert” to tell me what to do, I have suffered and have seen the side effects first hand.

Those hundreds of scientists don’t exist. Many more question vaccines. Doctors do not spend years reading textbooks on vaccines. Most of these anti vaccine parents are reading these studies and opinions from those that did the experiments themselves. I’ve read numerous studies my self in pubmed. My conclusions are NOT to vaccinate. I also have a child who experienced the many adverse reactions. No other child of mine will ever get a vaccine. It’s actually NOT as complicated as you have been led to believe and these textbooks you are talking about can’t possible have only facts since so-called facts in science are routinely overturned and replaced own knew facts or found out to be fraudulent or outright lies. I’m more interested in who funded the writing of these books to assess what type of monetary investment they made into them! Either way, your opinion does not fall in line here win what is being discussed. Valid points have been made and you use your own lack of knowledge to assume others also lack as you do. You are projecting your ignorance unfairly. You live with yourself, as I and so many parents do, with the regret of trusting these so-called scientists…

I absolutely love this article! It touches on not only many issues that are getting out of hand with this whole debate, but it also answers many questions that are still being debated with direct quotations and links. Seriously this is one of the most comprehensive and wonderfully articulate articles I’ve seen in a long time. Thank you.

It’s all chatter until it’s your child with the illness, or you are the woman in her first or second trimester of pregnancy and you contract Rubella.

You cite the CDC description of ‘measles’ as a self-limited illness, however you fail to mention what happens when pregnant woman (before 20-23 weeks) contracts rubella (the fetus can be blind, deaf, have a PDA or a host of neurological deficits). Does it matter that the outbreak may be on another continent? It shouldn’t given the mobility of the population of the planet. I care for patients at least 10-12 days a month (120 to 140 patient hours), I fly two to three times a month from locales where I know a multitude of international travelers pass through… and that’s just me, one person.

There is currently an outbreak of polio in Syria that is becoming more difficult by the day to reign in. You know, it starts just like any other springtime GI bug. A little fever, nausea/vomiting/diarrhea… then next thing you know your kid can’t walk. This doesn’t go away people. Meagan, have you ever met someone with post-polio syndrome? My first boss had polio as a child, she could go nowhere fast and always with two canes. Imagine never playing soccer, never skiing or just dancing all because your mom was afraid of the polio vaccine.

Thank God my kids aren’t anti-vaccine. I’ve never plied them in any fashion, and my eldest put both of her children on a delayed schedule, which I was very happy about. But they are in school in a major metropolitan area and are with kids whose parents frequently travel back home. I would worry every day for their health otherwise. It’s a scary, scary world out there.

If you are going to try to promote this kind of belief, I recommend you put yourself in the role of an Infectious Disease specialist for a while as you write an opposing side to your statement. To be fair to the non-medical people reading your article, it is only right that they know the other side – without whitewashing. Tell your audience about what is going on in Syria, THEN defend your stance. The same goes for the Rubella outbreak in Japan. (I actually think the risks should be part of your disclaimer – that sometimes these disease cause death and permanent disability. Your writing will be more respected in that way.) I also agree with others that you do come off as angry, propagating the hate, it seems.

Lastly, have you made it clear to anyone caring for your children if something were to happen to you and your spouse? If your late teen child still was not immunized and you passed away, that child never entered college (god forbid), and somehow was exposed to meningococcal meningitis (nearly 100% fatal), then what has all of this accomplished? I’m not propagating hate here, I’m trying to introduce a little fear. The balance of the population on the planet has always been controlled by mother nature, in the end – that’s the thought I would like people to walk away with. Some may think they are rolling the dice here, and if so, I’m putting my money for the number of survivors left in the vaccinated population.

Very well said and written…it would be so awesome to have those that write articles like this work side by side with the Infectious Disease doctor’s, the researchers…the people that have the knowledge….
You cannot argue with one word you said…
I don’t “hate” people who choose not to vaccinate their children but it does concern me that their “informed” decisions based on some of the articles I have read do not appear to wholeheartedly back by proper medical information, up to date medical information, etc.

So, with all do respect you want to vaccinated EVERY SINGLE little baby that comes into this world to protect pregnant women, “who may” contract: a disease and “who may” have complications during pregnancy? If a women is old enough to become pregnant and she has not received the rubella or measles vaccines or she has not naturally contracted these diseases, then why don’t they encourage her, (women of childbearing age) to get vaccinated, if they choose?
Also, are you aware, Meghan pointed it out in this article, but 95% of people who contracted polio had no symptoms. Less then 5% had mild symptoms such as a fever etc. LESS then 1% had severe complications due to polio. Do you know how polio is spread? Fecal oral contamination. I wonder what is more contagious (really, I do wonder, because I don’t know) E coli, salmonella or polio? Since they are all spread the same way? Have you ever heard of the Cutter incident?
“In April 1955 more than 200 000 children in five Western and mid-Western USA states received a polio vaccine in which the process of inactivating the live virus proved to be defective. Within days there were reports of paralysis and within a month the first mass vaccination programme against polio had to be abandoned. Subsequent investigations revealed that the vaccine, manufactured by the California-based family firm of Cutter Laboratories, had caused 40 000 cases of polio, leaving 200 children with varying degrees of paralysis and killing 10.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1383764/

A friend of mine knows an older lady in a wheelchair because when they were giving kids the live polio vaccine (orally) her son came home, simply kissed her on the lips, not long after he was vaccinated, she contracted polio from him and within a very short period of time, never walked again.

Look how chickenpox is viewed now days. It’s always, been a very mild childhood disease. Myself, with all my sibling and all my friends contracted chickenpox, it wasn’t fun but none of us died or had severe complications. Not saying you can’t have a severe complication but when you go into the doctors office to get the chickenpox vaccine don’t you sing a paper acknowledging that, there could be chance of having severe side affects? Now days, chickenpox is viewed as the black pleg or something. I mean really? You talk to kids who are 15 and younger and they think chickenpox would be the end of the world. But it’s not! Makes me wonder what other “so called horrible diseases”, (like chickenpox) were really not that big of deal, before my time? Did you know that in the last 15 years there has been an increase in shingles? If you read on Medscape.com a pro vaccinating sight they have an article titled, “shingles vaccine uptake: disappointing? http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/815128 Hmm funny how the chickenpox vaccine came out 15 years ago. Here’s a good article explaining why there is a rise in shingles, since the chickenpox vaccine came out:http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/02/chicken-pox-vaccine-creates-shingles-epidemic.aspx#!
With all do respect, what would you tell a mother who lost a child due to vaccinations? Or to a mother who’s child has had severe complications to vaccines? Because believe it or not, they happen and a lot more then you know about. When there is an adverse affect due to vaccines why doesn’t that make national news and the front page of every paper? About 8 years ago or so, 5-6 small children in our small town died due to vaccinations. Hmm why didn’t this make the news. In fact very few people know about it. Only one of the families made the paper. All the children were vaccinated at the same doctors office!

And what about the people who acquired myalgic encephalomyelitis from polio vaccines? Similar to post polio syndrome in a number of ways.
What about the rise of illnesses involving enteroviruses and viruses in the herpes family that used to be kept in check by the polio virus. Assuming the polio vaccine is responsible for a drop in polio cases (and correlation is not causation), isn’t it substituting other illnesses for polio?
What about the simian viruses introduced into humans through contaminated polio vaccines?

Seems I got a lot of hate filled or antagonistic thoughts coming from the article. Can’t specicfy anything exactly just that it would make me very unsure after reading it if I was pregnant or had newborns. Seems to me also, and I can’t quote specicifics, that some of the diseases or issues were known to happen long before vaccines were available. I know ear infections ahve been around for many, many, many decades so they did not come from vaccines. My mom had them all the time and I doubt she had veruy many shots in those days. I had them all the time and had few vaccines, I’m 52, so they did not come from vaccines. So please be careful saying that all the issues mentioned come from vaccines because they do not. I do however agree that vaccines can cause a host of problems in some children. I’ve read other blogs on FB that seem to me to overdo the going against vaccines over and over. My youngest is about 26 and my 3 did have vaccines but of course not so many were available then. Would I do it now, maybe not as many. So be careful as you may be repelling more than you’re attracting with all the hard comments, true or not.

Great response I’d like to add to. When she says “we traded polio for *laundry list of other diseases* i find that to be an extreme logical leap and a specious argument at best. Most of the things she lists were hardly diagnosable “back when our grandparents were growing up” and we’re much better at diagnosing those diseases now than we were. Autism is probably the best example of this. There are no studies that conclusively link vaccines to the prevalence any of these diseases.

The article says “So we traded in polio (which according to the CDC is asymptomatic in 95% of people who actually get it) for vaccine induced paralytic polio and cancer via contaminated Salk vaccines.” You cannot attribute the insane rise of chronic disease and autism entirely to better diagnostic methods. You will find research out there not only showing links between vaccines and disease, you’ll see these adverse reactions reported in clinical trials, and many studies on components of vaccines and disease as well. Physicians and scientists have devoted entire books to this subject. Vaccines are not above reproach.

“According to the CDC, measles isn’t a “deadly disease” it is “an illness characterized by a generalized rash lasting ≥3 days, a temperature of ≥101°F [≥38.3°C], and cough, coryza, or conjunctivitis.”

I take issue with this. As a small child, I contracted measles, went into cardio-pulmonary distress, died 2 times and was in the PICU for over 2 weeks. Not deadly? I don’t think so. My own mother was also witness to many, many deaths in kids as a nurse during the sixties. Childhood disease is a scary, scary thing.

Charlotte, I am sorry to hear about your experience. That is the CDC’s classification of measles, not mine. The same symptoms you experienced could also be experienced by a child who gets the live MMR vaccine and gets vaccine-induced measles or has a reaction to one of the other components. Some may argue that the risk is greater with a vaccine. Either way, I would never intentionally downplay your experience and I am glad you are here.

The CDC also says this:
Even in previously healthy children, measles can be a serious illness requiring hospitalization. As many as 1 out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, and about 1 child in every 1,000 who get measles will develop encephalitis. (This is an inflammation of the brain that can lead to convulsions, and can leave the child deaf or mentally retarded.) For every 1,000 children who get measles, 1 or 2 will die from it. Measles also can make a pregnant woman have a miscarriage, give birth prematurely, or have a low-birth-weight baby.

“For every 1,000 children who get measles, 1 or 2 will die from it.”
That sounds deadly to me. It’s not included in the clinical description (why would it be?), but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply. And that’s on top of the possibility of deafness, blindness, or permanent mental disability.

ChrisKid, do you know how many children have died after receiving the MMR vaccine or developed encephalitis? The MMR vaccine is not only associated with an insane number of side-effects, it can be deadly and that is a bigger priority, at least for me. Just because I don’t advocate vaccines does not mean I don’t advocate prevention. There are other options…safer options.

The CDC are charged with ensuring vaccine uptake, they are not a reliable source of information. We have the UK’s NHS data online for measles and since 1992 there have been over 150,000 reports of measles, over 15,000 lab-confirmed cases, and not a single death in a child. Real world facts show that the CDCs data is off by a factor of, what? 10 lets say? Maybe more? So too most likely is their data on vaccine encephalopathy, claiming it’s only 1 in a million when it’s far more likely it’s 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 100,000.

I have friends on FB who say people who don’t vaccine should be in prison for child abuse, or manslaughter, criminal negligence, and are assholes. My friends, who don’t know how I feel about vaccines say this stuff to my face. I wish I had the guts to link to this online, but I am afraid of how people will treat my children. The ones they think I am abusing by not giving all the latest vaccines.

To Scoopy, who says:
I have friends…who say people who don’t vaccinate should be in prison for child abuse or manslaughter………..
First off, Scoopy, get different friends. That being said, what do they think about the 32,570 vaccine reactions and 153 deaths reported to the Federal Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) for just the HPV vaccines – Gardasil and Cervarix. Does that constitute child abuse? Those are just TWO vaccines out of HUNDREDS. Pharmaceutical companies are exempt from lawsuits and compensation for vaccine-related injuries. What other manufacturing industry is exempt from lawsuits when their product harms or KILLS someone? The CEOs of such companies are the ones who should be in prison for child abuse.

You are absolutely correct, Kathy. And just to reiterate – VACCINE COMPANIES are EXEMPT from being sued for vaccine injury. They have NOTHING to lose if you lose your child. They DO NOT CARE if your child dies. They make their money either way.

If people say this to you, they are bigoted, uneducated and hateful. Delete them, they would not think twice about deleting you if you said any of this to them about their right to choose how to medicate their children. It scares me how little people think before they make such idiotic statements about something they know next to nothing about.

Very well said and written…it would be so awesome to have those that write articles like this work side by side with the Infectious Disease doctor’s, the researchers…the people that have the knowledge….
You cannot argue with one word you said…
I don’t “hate” people who choose not to vaccinate their children but it does concern me that their “informed” decisions based on some of the articles I have read do not appear to wholeheartedly back by proper medical information, up to date medical information, etc.

Scoopy: I understand your quiet stance…because the parents of vaccinated children would socially isolate your child. I hope, in time, you will acquire NEW friends, who have children that will fully accept you and your child, supporting your right to choose.

My suggestion: Friend people who stand out to you in their comments (some are like beacons). Your level of awareness has changed, which will inevitably change your associations. To eliminate the fear of those that would criticize your decisions, transition gradually to new groups of friends – for you and your child’s sake (if those ‘friends’ are so quick to judge – is that a HEALTHY connection to maintain?). I guarantee that new group will grow. It happened to me….i didn’t make any announcements, didn’t unfriend based on a difference of opinions – but the NEW friends (who are very eloquent in their stance) would chime in with great responses, based on THEIR research and sources. Combined intent, united on becoming informed & sharing information helps us to become empowered. I wish you the best of luck in your transition. People are waking up – and it cannot be stopped.

As a special education teacher to children with autism I have to comment. I follow autism research closely. While I can’t refute arguments for or against vaccines in general, I can urge you to delve more deeply into the vaccine-autism discussion. There are organizations devoted to discovering the origins of autism, Kennedy Krieger Institute especially. I highly suggest visiting their website or attending seminars given by their highly qualified and educated staff. I also recommend reading a book called “Autism’s False Prophets” by Paul A. Offit, M.D. He is an epidemiologist with decades of experience and he presents a comprehensive view of all of the studies conducted in relation to the supposed link between vaccines and autism, including the use of VAERS. I think it is of note that the VAERS system is not a mandatory reporting system. It’s a passive system. If anyone wants to file a report of possible vaccine harm, they can do it on VAERS, but they don’t have to every time that possibility arises. Therefore, it is an inconclusive and unreliable source of accurate information. Am I afraid that some vaccines or the vaccine schedule could, for some, cause more harm than good? Yes. Am I afraid that horrible, debilitating, life-shattering diseases (specifically polio) will make a comeback if the population of unvaccinated children grows? Yes. Am I afraid that vaccines cause autism? No. A resounding no.

Can you explain how Dr. Offit still has any conflict of interest, now that he has no financial interest in the vaccine he developed?
Can you explain how he had a conflict of interest during the 25 years that he worked on developing the vaccine, with no guarantee of success?

When something you worked on made you between $6 million to $55 million you have a conflict of interests, that Offit never mentions this when being one of the most vocal and scathing voices of parents who choose not to vaccinated it deserves being pointed out…every single time.

Listening to Paul Offit’s opinion on vaccines is like asking the CEO of Monsanto if GMO foods are safe, and believing them. He has his hand in WAY too many cookie jars when it comes to financial gain with vaccines.

I as well work in Special Education and I have met far too many parents, well educated and well read parents, who feel that vaccinations have a part in their child’s condition. Important to note, is that most of them are still pro vaccine, however, at a much more delayed rate.

I really believe that is where we need to be going… is finding a middle ground.

Where are your sources? i.e. peer-reviewed Journal/scientific articles, etc……????? You mention popular magazines/newspapers and media, but as we know, the media isn’t always correct and anyone can get online and spout a bunch of information-where’s your back-up? Who are all these doctors who don’t support vaccination!? Most doctors, scientists, and researchers I’ve met, all unanimously support it, but obviously that’s just a small portion of the medical population, so I’m curious to know who some of these doctors you refer to are. Also, you state: “I’m sorry but these physicians sat through the same classes. They passed their licensing boards like all of the other doctors, many have the prestigious “M.D” behind their names too, but because they read the research and came to a different conclusion and had the guts to say so, they’re stance is somehow less credible?”…….True, they all take the same licensing boards, but that doesn’t always mean they’re all competent or received the same training because let’s face it, some schools are a lot better at preparing graduates than others and anyone can cram the night before exams and spit a bunch of information out the next day, but what makes a good physician is the person who actually internalizes what he studies and learns it. Not all doctors are good doctors by any means!!!! (whether pro OR against vaccination…..) On a separate note, give thanks you don’t live in Africa, Bolivia, or any other third world country. People there would kill to have access to vaccines and other preventative measures against disease!

So you think this small handful of people are right, and almost all of the entire world’s public health physicians, family physicians, early childhood nurses, neonatal ICU specialists, pediatricians and immunologists are wrong?

What would inspire pediatricians, who spend their lives trying to improve the welfare of children, to intentionally harm them? Or do you think they are just gullible, or not very smart? (all of them, all over the world?)

Whoopsie Daisies Sue, you have fallen for the classic logical fallacy of assuming someone votes for one side simply because they have not voiced their support of another side publicly.

Where is the LIST of the individuals who have come out publicly supporting vaccination? i can start it for you, Dr. Paul Offit, multi-millionaire vaccine inventor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, paid spokesperson; feel free to finish it off.

Haemophilus influenzae TYpe B (HiB), which used to cause life-threatening meningitis and epiglottitis, has been virtually eliminated in developed countries since the 1980’s, simply due to vaccination. There have been no changes in sanitation or hygiene in our wealthy communities during this time.

Those effects were rare and maybe HiB does plays a role in the decline, but at what cost? Have you seen the increase in peanut allergies since the licensure of this vaccine, the possible adverse reactions, and the adverse events reported? As of May 2012 there were 12,140 adverse events reported to (VAERS). Almost all of them occurred in children under the age of 3. Instead of giving a vaccine which could put a child at risk, we should address why children get HiB in the first place and address both internal and external factors.

Great article! N to the lady a few comments above who said how she is offended by those of us who dont vax saying that we have educated ourselves n decided not to b/c she has educated herself too n decided to vax..i dont think anyone means it as offensive to u personally, we r just defending our right to make an informed choice. Then again, the overwelming majority of parents who vax do not do any research n are just listening to what their drs tell Them so That could be why you get that vibe from some people

Wow. I mean wow. You put into a clear, concise article every little thing I have been trying to voice for years. Bravo! Having seen 3 vaccine injuries up close and personal, I no longer question my decision not to have my children vaccinated. I have seen the danger of blindly following doctors orders. One other thing I think is very important to let parents know – an issue called Doctor Bullying. Yes, we were bullied by our first pediatrician after deciding against vaccination – to the point where I was told we could not come back for any treatment unless we agreed to vaccinate fully. We found another pediatrician immediately, but I never forgot the feeling of anger, frustration and sadness I felt that day. Having some close family and friends in the Pharma-industry, I have learned that doctors are given bonuses for having near 100% of their patients vaccinated. Trips to Hawaii, new cars, and yes, lots of cash. I always encourage people to do their own research before vaccinating. And not through their doctor – through unmotivated means.

I would love to have a respectful, educated conversation with you, specifically regarding your thoughts on vaccine injuries.

I am not sure how old your grandparents are, but asthma has been around since the days of Ancient Egypt and Greece, and probably longer. The word “asthma” actually comes from the Greek word “aazein” which means “sharp breath.” Reports of asthma illnesses and treatments have been documented for thousands of years.

As for your other vaccine injuries – ear infections, food allergies, eczema, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, autism, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy, brain encephalitis, developmental disorders, and neurological problems. Aside from Autism, which was first diagnosed in the early 1900s (although previously diagnosed as a form of Schizophrenia), the rest of these conditions have been well-documented long before the wide-spread use of any vaccines.

Putting aside your beliefs that vaccines cause all of the above conditions, it is completely inaccurate to say that none of them existed before the use of vaccines.

Denise, I actually have a grandmother who is 100 years old so I am lucky that I can draw from her personal knowledge base. I never said that these diseases had never existed prior (although some of them did not), I insinuated that they were so uncommon that most people back then had never heard of them (or they were uncommon enough to not have a “label” for their symptom complex). I wanted to discuss this further in my post but it went beyond the scope and main idea of my article. But it is in the queue for the future.

Denise – my husband got his first and only flu vaccination in 1999 – 2 days after the shot, he woke up unable to feel his hand or arm. The next symptoms were optic neuritis, which started the same week as the numbness, general fatigue, and neuropathy. After being seen by his doctor who diagnosed him with carpal tunnel syndrome he went on to see several specialists, eventually diagnosed with MS by a neurologist. One of the first questions my husband was asked was “have you had any recent vaccinations?” Eventually they linked the MS to the flu shot – not that the shot caused the MS, but that it triggered it to become active in his system.

A friend of mine followed her doctors orders for 4 years and did the vaccination route. Two days after the 4th year vaccines, her son went into grand mal seizures, stopped breathing and was rushed to the hospital. During a period of 6 days, he had a total of 19 seizures, 4 codes and my friend was advised to prepare for the end. One of the first questions asked of my friend “Did your son have any recent vaccinations?” Her son is almost recovered from this chapter, though he is still being weaned off of anti-seizure meds. His neurologist has confirmed that his condition was brought on by the vaccinations he just received (Dtap, IPV, MMR, Chickenpox, I believe, in addition to a flu shot.)

A work colleague was pro-vaccine for about 5 years – until she took her daughter for her checkup and shots, then came home and her daughter fell to the ground and began shaking. She was non-responsive for about 3 minutes, my colleague was on the phone with 911, when her little girl began to vomit uncontrollably. Rushed to the ER, my colleague said the first thing they asked her was “Has she had any vaccinations recently?” She recovered, but my colleague never vaccinated again.

My son was born in 2010. I was bullied by his pediatrician and eventually had to change doctors because this first pediatrician would not see him unless I vaccinated him. In 2012, my son had an allergic reaction to penicillin and then another reaction to peanut butter a few months later. We took him for allergy testing – the allergist told me he knew my son was not vaccinated. I looked at him strangely, wondering how he would know this, and he told me it was because my son was still here with us. I started to sob as he explained to me that a lot of times, children with allergies can have severe reactions to immunizations as infants. He did not specifically say “death” but I knew what he was alluding to.

Diseases existing before vaccinations? Of course. I don’t think anyone would deny that. But my great grandparents survived wonderfully without the 49 doses of vaccines before age 6. My grandparents did as well, as did my parents, and even my generation did not have 49 vaccinations. It’s not just the vaccines that are the problem – it’s the additives and ingredients included in the vaccine as well.

May I suggest that the next article you write not include such a high level of bitter defensiveness. There is good information here, but you’re actually progressing animosity and hate with tone. The ones who need to hear this most will look to reject your truths because you’ve insulted them.
I love what you said about herd immunity and the terms you put it into.

You need an etymologist or speech writer to separate it out, I think – but the posting IS angry.

If I were you, I would write as if in a peer-reviewed publication, posting the disease, (ie: Polio), what happens when someone has the disease, including the full spectrum from mild to severe, THEN post your own ‘thoughts’, but I recommend using citable sources, not just what you think personally.

Faith – I ask this not as a rude or obnoxious question, but simply because you stated that you are a pro-vaccine MD and I am simply curious. If a parent asked you to sign a statement stating that their child would not die from the vaccines they were about to get, would you sign it?

Dana:
It took me forever to find this again after seeing it late last night; Putting this into context – I am an ER doc and pretty much the only immunizations I’m going to give anyone are DPT, tetanus toxoid, rabies vaccine, Hepatitis B. The non-vaccines in the same categories are tetanus Ig and rabies Ig – we use those when you’ve been exposed and never been immunized.

If you brought in your unimmunized child after he/she fell and ripped their leg open playing out in the yard, they are going to need both the tetanus vaccine and tetanus Ig – I probably would sign anything you want me to. I’ve seen tetanus firsthand – being in the ICU for two weeks is a LOT riskier than a vaccine. I’d do the same for the rabies vaccine if you or your child were bitten by an animal that could not be located and observed. While it would be a very odd request, I WOULD take the risk so my patient would be safe.

If a parent still refused a tetanus vaccine and Ig after a dirty lac, I would likely offer the clean out the wound but I might not sew it up – kind of a stand-off act in my opinion as a parent who would refuse to immunize their kid against tetanus with a dirt-infused wound is neglectful, IMHO. To that end, I would probably involve the child’s PMD. IF no PMD were available, I might have to involve Child Protective Services. Animal GI tracts (poop) is the reservoir for C. tetani, and is ABUNDANT in farm settings and present just about anywhere an animal can relieve themselves (we are talking birds here too).

Faith – I thank you for your honest and open reply, and for being the type of doctor who works in probably one of the most stressful environments in medicine. I completely respect and admire the work you do, and though I can’t speak for everyone, I can say that if my child fell in the yard and gashed a leg or arm, I would NEVER refuse a tetanus shot – nor a rabies shot – I don’t know of anyone who would. My question is more based on a personal experience I had with our old pediatrician – she told me that if I did not vaccinate my son, it was the same thing as if I were planning his death. So I asked her to sign something assuring me that my son would not die from the vaccinations she wanted to give him. She refused to sign it, telling me that there is always a small chance of death. And I told her, before walking out of that practice forever, “How dare you tell me that I am putting my son at risk for death, when by giving him the vaccinations, YOU are putting him at risk for death.

My issue is that vaccines are NOT 100% safe and side-effect or long-term effect free. I have 4 close cases where long term health issues happened as a direct result of vaccinations, so I am very wary. If vaccines were 100% effective OR 100% safe, I would be knocking down doors to have my children vaccinated. And if my child happens to fall and gash his leg (I hope this never happens) I will rush him to the ER and beg the doctor on staff to give him a tetanus shot.

Thank you again for the work you do, and for your honest answer to what must have seemed like a strange question – but now you know why I asked.

“I can say that if my child fell in the yard and gashed a leg or arm, I would NEVER refuse a tetanus shot – nor a rabies shot ”

Just an FYI – if your child fell in the yard and got a cut or gash, you only need to worry if it’s a deep wound that oxygen can’t get to. You don’t want to stop the bleeding right away, because that’s the body’s way of cleaning a wound. If it’s deep enough that you worry oxygen isn’t getting to it, pour peroxide on it to help the process. Tetanus can’t do anything unless it’s in an oxygen-free environment (with exception to the intestinal tract).

If it’s a deep puncture wound, and you’re really concerned, you do not want to get the vaccine booster. It takes weeks for that to take effect, and tetanus works more quickly than that. You’ll want to tell the ER folks that you want the tetanus immunoglobulin shot, not the vaccine booster, which is what they will normally try to give you.

The best way to avoid it, though, is to just let your kids play in the dirt. Studies have shown that children who have regular natural exposure have greater natural immunity. The older they get, and with more exposure, the better their immunity.

Getting a rabies shot isn’t going to do any good for any wound that you didn’t get from an animal.

I didn’t read any bitterness or rudeness from the article. Perhaps some people feel offended because it challenges their belief system?
People should be angry though – the way vaccines are pushed onto them.

Have you ever listened to the tirade of the pro-vaccination movement. JSS mentions Dr. Paul Offit. Meredith says “I felt such bitterness, sarcasm and rudeness.” Well, if you want to read real rudeness, go to FaceBook for Voices for Vaccines. Dr. Paul Offit is the Medical Director for Voices for Vaccines, a multi million dollar organization which strives to eliminate ALL EXEMPTIONS for vaccines in ALL STATES. That’s rude enough for me. Here’s what Dr. Paul Offit said in a video to doctors “The term personal belief is also incorrect in that vaccines are not a belief system. Religion is a belief system. Religion is a faith-based system. Science and medicine are evidence-based systems. They are data-based systems, not beliefs. ” Read the whole transcript and see if it qualifies as bitter, sarcastic and rude. Everything he writes or speaks about is marginalizing and demeaning. http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/transcript-offit-speech.pdf

When you are someone like me, who has four vaccine-injured children, you get a little bitter and rude. I have five files full of vaccine research. I search the websites of the CDC, FDA, IMO, PubMed and others. Megan has written one of THE best articles on vaccination – The Hate Debate.

Kathy – my heart aches for you. I am so sorry you have dealt with vaccine injury firsthand. I too have seen the dark side of vaccines. I have spent a lot of time wishing I could go back to that day and warn my husband against getting that one shot which has changed our lives forever.

He trusted his doctor unconditionally. I trusted my doctors too – that may have been the trigger for me – the reason I question every prescription that is written, every procedure the doctors want to do – I used to have blind faith – but the doctors aren’t living in the aftermath – to them we’re just numbers. To the Pharma industry, we’re just $$$. It’s sad, but it’s true. And I make every single decision for my children now with their safety in mind. Do I want my child to get measles, mumps, chicken pox, et. al? Absolutely NOT. What parent wants their children to be sick? If they invented a vaccine that was 100% safe and guaranteed to work, I’d be the first person in line. Until then, I would rather my child have the measles and hopefully recover after a week or so than watch them struggle for the rest of their lives due to a vaccine injury.

The part I never get: The unvax’d are bringing back diseases…Uhm, where did they get them? Poof! they just had them in their pocket and threw them up in the air? Why is it their fault? Is it because they got sick and spread it? Uhm the vaxes aren’t 100 proof… the vaxers could spread it too, catch it too….

To answer where the diseases come from: Just because the U.S. has been successful at ridding the population of many diseases or near ridding them (remember polio? remember Hib, almost always fatal or permanently damaging?) Not all countries have strong vaccine programs or the same level of investment into public health and safety. People like “Dr.” Wakefield made up a whole study and got it published in Europe leading europeans to stop using the MMR vaccine. leaving a whole continent susceptible to Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. His license was revoked when all of his studies could not be replicated and he admitted to falsifying his data. People travel. All measles cases in the US are linked to european strains from unvaccinated and not fully vaccinated people traveling to countries where the disease is still endemic and bringing it back.

Janna, I am confused. What was incorrect about Wakefield’s study (which has since been replicated over 28 times)? The Lancet retraction had nothing to do with the inaccuracy of his data… which focused on gastrointestinal disease in autistic children. The co-author of his study was exonerated of all charges of professional misconduct and Wakefield has never been convicted of anything. I would look up the people who called for the Lancet retraction, you’ll find them to be quite interesting.

It’s a very interesting read. I was able to access many of the articles on this list and have to concur with the author’s general premise here. Most of these citations don’t exactly “reproduce” Wakefield’s study. Some don’t mention MMR or measles vaccine at all.

You said above that “The Lancet retraction had nothing to do with the inaccuracy of his data”. It was my understanding that only one of the 12 children in the study had actually been diagnosed with regressive autism, and that 3 of the children were NEVER diagnosed with autism. I also read that five of the children had shown symptoms of developmental issues prior to receiving the MMR vaccine. ( See this article: http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c5347?ijkey=eb1cc1fc43c7e7f11f3fa14448682806240109ba&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha) What was your understanding as to why the article was retracted?

The BMJ article has never been independently peer-reviewed, the BMJ also offered an apology not long after posting the article for failing to disclose their financial conflict of interests with the UK makers of MMR (GSK).

The article was funded by The Sunday Times which was controlled at that time by James Murdoch (son of News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch). He was in addition making £70,000/year in a non-executive directorial position on the board of UK MMR manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline.

The Lancet study was pulled by Elsevier CEO Sir Crispin Davies. At that time he was in addition making £70,000/year in a non-executive directorial position on the board of UK MMR manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline.

Vaccines are needles filled with a host of poisons that greatly harms the health of anyone who is unfortunate enough to have been fooled into thinking they are safe or effective.

It doesn’t matter what people say about those of us who have discovered the truth and refuse to poison ourselves or our loved ones. Those brainwashed individuals need our continued empathy, education and encouragement to see the light on this. The campaign against us using vaccines is an aggressive one, but we are starting to win the fight…or else why would there be such a hubaloo against our “movement”.

Do you ever publish comments that are anything less than 100% in your favor? I never see any. How can you claim that there is another side to the vaccine “debate” and then refuse to post anything that doesn’t support your stance?

Becky, There are several comment moderators for this blog. All comments that conform to the comment policy listed here are posted. For a list of my credentials refer to the “Meet Megan” section of this site. Please keep future comments on topic.

Actually there have been a TON of studies done concerning the NONEXISTENT link between MMR VAX and autism. I’m not saying anything else about VAX safety or side effects, just that the autism link has been studied and is untrue.

Unfortunately that can’t be stated as fact. The studies done are one one ingredient, or one vaccine. not the entire series or the combination shots that are 3 or 4 in 1 (for example, they may have determined the Measles vaccine isn’t linked but have not studied MMR…that is an example I don’t remember which ones they have and haven’t studied).
That said, there is also nothing that proves an autism link and honestly, I don’t know a single non-vaccinating family that even took autism into consideration in their decision. It’s assumed that’s what we all worry about but very few have that as their reasoning, and even fewer as their sole reasoning.
For the record: I personally don’t believe they cause autism. It’s neurological, it’s genetic. I think it’d be prudent to see if something in vaccines can trigger the symptoms of autism and make it worse but as of now there is no proof on either side of the autism and vaccine debate.

I agree with you on that NW ^. I never even knew there was a link to autism when I decided not to vaccinate 18 years ago. I simply ready baby books and read about the vaccine schedule and thought….Ok, I’ll do that, as soon as I do some research as to what’s in them, how safe they are by reading actual papers/studies and how are they effecting and supporting the extinction of disease and how effective they are.That’s it, a young girl of 19/20 years old and I wanted to know more.
It was hard slog in the library back then and since I make huge efforts to keep my knowledge current. But autism still (although I have read 5 of the 28 studies linking autism to vaccines) is not as high on my list of concerns as say cancer and other auto immune diseases and infertility in young people on the rise.
I used to get bullied a lot by Dr’s when I was younger on the rare occasion I would see them for scheduled health, hearing, vision checks etc but the health of my 9 unvaccinated children speaks volumes and Dr’s and nurses nod, smile and say things like, “well you clearly are doing something right!”
When my youngest son was 2 weeks old my niece 25 years old was staying with me. She would sit with him for hours while he slept. She caught influenza B and unknowingly gave it to him and I. When a 2 week old spikes a fever in Australia, they automatically admit them for 3 days incase of bacterial infection such as meningitis. Not one Dr or nurse questioned me when I said I didn’t vaccinate until the very last day.
He had a bunch of medical students with him and he thought he’d show me up. The first thing he said was, if it’s about what that Dr said he has been proven fraudulent. I said it wasn’t about Dr Wakefield although his study has been replicated 23 times (that’s all I knew about a year and a half ago) it’s about the ingredients, safety and efficacy and the over all long term health of my children for me. He mumbled that they are safe, he always gets the flu shot and gets the flu every year but it only has him bed ridden for a week. I said, they are certainly not safe, that is not accurate, if he read the package inserts they list the hazards, and that I never get the flu shot, am in close contact with children every day and this is the first time I have ever had the flu, this is our first hospital admission in 18 years with 9 children and we are feeling all better and ready to go home in 3 days.
A student snuck back in and said she would like to learn more about vaccines as she is just taught to push them in med school and never learns the other side of things. She said it always seems flawed and dangerous to her because of the need for boosters and the miss rate, mutating diseases messing with natural course of disease in comunities etc and asked for some credible links.

To down play our concerns and decisions as misinformed junk science on the basis of a debunked theory is an insult to those of us who are dedicated to doing the best for our kids, by being and STAYING educated. I have lost count of the number of parents who have said, I haven’t researched, I just listened to my Dr 15 years ago and think they must know best so haven’t given it another thought. Besides, the study is not debunked at all.

THANK YOU!!! If it was caused by MMR then children that do not get vaccinated would not have Autism at the same incidence rate as their vaccinated counterpart put that is something difficult for people that use this argument to admit to. Thank you

Janna, in my post I did not say MMR causes autism, I said that we’re tired of people telling us that it doesn’t. In addition, there has been no comprehensive study done in the U.S testing the prevalence of autism between vaccinated and unvaccinated children – hence one of the many reasons behind Posey’s bill sitting in Congress.

MMR has been a contributing factor in a lot of autism. Parents have observed it happen. Not all (perhaps most) autism involves the MMR or other vaccine. The biggest factor contributing to autism is damaged gut health, thanks mainly to harm from antibiotics. Kids with damaged gut health are a lot more likely to be harmed by vaccines.

We are an 8 year non-vaccinating family. I have poured many hour, weeks, days, into researching. I too have also had to endure listening and reading the hateful bully comments. This is such an well written article. You took the words right out of my mouth! Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts with us!! Blessings!

I fully agree that as moms we have the right to choose to vacc. or not. My biggest issue is when moms say that they made the educated choice not to – well, I made the educated choice to vaccinate my children and I stand firmly by my choice. This debate goes both ways. I feel like moms that I know who choose not to vaccinate, look down on me because I do – like I was hurting my child without knowing what I was doing. I can look up the same articles and read the same books as anyone else. Vaccinate or don’t. It doesn’t make you a better mom.

I agree with you 100%! I am not vaccinating my children but I have no problems with people that choose to. I wish we could all be like this. If I have the right to choose no, you certainly have the right to choose yes. Peace be with you, friend.

I agree with you. Vaccines are not black and white. I fully support families who choose to vaccinate as much as I support those who choose not to. There is so much grey area and there are pros and cons on both sides. It’s definitely a personal decision about what YOU think is best for YOUR family. So way to go on making the best choice for your family and doing what you think will protect your kids best MAMA LOVE! lol

Have you ever been told you should have your kids taken away and that you are an @$$hole for vaccinating? I get that every day on FB. Maybe some homeopaths look down on those who vaccinate (I don’t, do what feels right everyone, go for it if that is what you want to do!) but I am guessing those who vaccinate don’t fear others who hate them and their families the way those who choose to not vaccinate fear people around them.Scoopy recently posted…Christianity, Modesty, and What we are Teaching Young People

I am a homeopath with two severely vaccine-injured children and I never look down on someone who vaccinates. In fact, it is the opposite. We have homeopathy at our disposal to treat any illness that comes along (and in many cases much more effectively than allopathic medicine can). Most people do not have that ability. I completely understand why people would vaccinate – it is their decision and their children. Only they are accountable for what happens to them. They should do everything they think is best to help their children be the healthiest they can be. And I wish people would feel the same for us who choose not to vaccinate.

I try to keep my opinions on this matter to myself. Mostly because I feel that it’s a merry-go-round type of argument. The Pro’s will never convince the Con’s and the Con’s will never convince the Pro’s. What gets me is when words like “I made the educated decision…” (I might be paraphrasing, I don’t remember the exact phrase). When I read that phrase it makes me feel like because I am making the choice to do somethings, or not do something whatever the case may be, my decision is ‘not correct’ or ‘uneducated’. I believe someone else also touched on this subject and I agree their stance on the word ‘educated’. We are all parents, we are all doing what we feel is best for our children. Please don’t make us feel uneducated because we are doing something you disagree with. I could say more, but it really is one of those topics to me where many people will never see eye to eye on the subject. Thank you for doing what you feel is best for your child.

As long as people do what they can to educate themselves about something this important.
Too many people are not interested in acquiring knowledge. They take the easy way out by blindly believing what they are told to believe by media, the establishment, the majority, etc.

I was pretty silent about this topic until my son was born this past November. I had a horrible reaction from the DPT shot when I was a baby, which presented itself as seizures. Subsequently, I haven’t been vaccinated in nearly 29 years. I feel it is my duty to share the dangers of vaccinations due the damages that I received from them. I also have felt personally attacked for my views, and people are quick to jump to conclusions about my reasons for not vaccinating.
Thank you for saying in this article how many of us feel. It’s time for the hate to stop.

I have to stop reading this website for my own sanity sake, but one last comment before I bow out……you say that the AMA has not been around as long as homeopathic medicine, but that means homeopathic medicine was what was practiced when everyone was dying of all the diseases you’re talking about. Sooooo……how come homeopathic medicine wasn’t fixing it? I know, I know, it’s because it was dirtier back then. I’m sure that’s what you are going to say. I’m not saying that it doesn’t have it’s place, but it’s a flawed part of your argument. Don’t knock the AMA because it’s not as old as homeopathic medicine.nellie recently posted…The Hate Debate

Nellie, you don’t seem accepting of the premise that things were “dirtier back then.” I suggest you do just a wee bit more research by reading the first two chapters of Dissolving Illusions by Dr. Suzanne Humphries. She chronicles the history of development in the industrial revolution. Living conditions were sickening with open sewers and extreme child labor, all unregulated by government agencies. Malnutrition and tainted food supplies led to people’s immune systems being almost non-functional. These living conditions are unimaginable by today’s standards. We all take it for granted now because we know of no other existence. Learn this history. It’s a history of living in crowded tenements without sewers and flushing toilets, dead animals and garbage left in the streets, rats much more numerous than people, and disease spreading unimpeded. If this doesn’t make perfect sense to you, then there is no hope for you, and yes, you should just slink away and avoid the issue, roll up your sleeve and get in line with the other sheeple to get your shots. Good luck to you.

I have also done research on vaccination/ non-vaccination debate and have had a few key reasons why I still vaccinate my children.
1) I don’t agree with the improved sanitation argument. My family and I are missionaries who live in a “third world nation.” Childhood fatalities and illness have dropped drastically since the introduction of vaccinations, while sanitation and the availability of medical help remains absolutely horrific (just as you described above).
2) I do not agree with the logic in most anti- vaccination articles. They often use slippery-slope fallacies. Or don’t recognize the difference between causation and correlation.
3) Satistics. From every piece of research I have read the likelihood that my children will be injured by a vaccination is just statistically less than the likelihood that they will be faced with a potentially life threatening illness.
3) The main reason I vaccinate is because I realize that I am raising children in a globalized world where they will face lots of illnesses that have the potential to be fatal.

The AMA is a propaganda outfit. It’s a pharma supported group to keep doctors under their foot or they risk loosing their membership. Last I read, doctor are jumping ship from the AMA because they want to save thousands in membership fees and be able to practice medicine without the politics of big pharma.

The Institute of Medicine is also heavily tied to pharma – these are the same organizations who completed the studies that found “No relationship between vaccines and autism.” I’m not stating that vaccines cause autism – I am asking those who believe the studies that were done to disprove this to check the source of the studies and ponder whether there are any motivating factors that could possibly “sway” their results one way or another?

Homeopathic physicians have more than one philosophy, as do many physicians that are not homeopathic physicians.
There are 2 main paths that which I am aware, the primary difference being whether or not only one remedy is given at a time, rather than combinations.

But generally, if one is healthy, they don’t fix what ain’t broke, as my grandfather would say. They remedy when needed and otherwise condone/promote a healthy lifestyle.

They typically take extensive histories, but are usually looking mostly at symptoms as they are in the moment.

The timeline shouldn’t be who is newer is better, more advanced, nor should it has been around longer makes it definitely better either.

Each incidence of illness, the individual constitution at the time, etc. and the patient’s input should all be considered.

Not everyone tolerates one or the other as well, and one should have the availability and freedom to choose to explore options. And not just these schools of thought. Modern pharmaceuticals have nearly killed me (and do kill many people still), and homeopathic remedies have so far merely failed me from time to time. But modern pharmaceuticals were a godsend when I was injured and needed relief. Some of those scenarios lead to addiction and death, however. I have found that similar herbs that the pharmaceuticals are derived very useful. Many people even become ill with OTC medications. I believe it is 1 in 20 cannot even tolerate ibuprofen. Even if not exact…there are some that cannot use what is standard to many. I know I have gone off track a bit…but that is a principle that should not be ignored. Better questions would be does anyone have accurate screening methods as to who should not get what, and to re-evaluate efficacy. I see debates….two things left out…VAERS’ existence (if it is not great why not improve it?) and combined vaccination reducing efficacy. I don’t have the link…you can hunt down if you want, but I recall reading in the BMJ years ago that combining vaccines reduced all of the vaccines in way of effectiveness. So I wonder why people will not bring that up as much as herd immunity. That conversely, that if they were given individually they might be more effective.
Another factor is the availability. Older medicine, ironically called alternative, is not covered by insurance…so what choice do many have? How can effectiveness be compared easily?
I know Nellie bowed out…But I agree that it can be tough on one’s sanity trying to sort it all out.
I think comparing homeopathic remedies (which typically treat what is already going on) is kind of silly to compare to vaccines which are prophylactics that have risks. They do have a similar ideal in like creating a like, with vaccines using the disease to attempt to prevent the disease and homeopathic remedies using miniscule substances (which some say retain concentrated energy patterns…others say make obsolete) of things that create the current symptoms.

Yes. Everyone is different. That’s something that a lot of pro-vaxxers or people pushing other pharmaceuticals don’t seem to get. Some people are more susceptible to harm from vaccines and other pharmaceuticals, than are others. Maybe because of genetics, existing illness, family history, whatever else. If a person knows there is a good chance they or their child would be harmed by a vaccine, they would be silly to get the vaccine.

I agree with you Nellie— look at mortality rates from diseases, 50 years ago, 100 years ago… the AMA exists for a reason, so does the WHO and the CDC…
If a terrorist decides to release or infect someone with smallpox would you get vaccinated? Who you get the vaccine and protect your child? These are very well educated people doing research and acting upon it.
I don’t “hate” people who choose not to vaccinate their children at all….